(at times
my sadness falls into

(at times my sadness falls into was written very quickly during a quite violent winter storm while I was living in Oberlin. Prior to writing this piece, I had been experimenting with the creation of suspended textures using a minimal amount of material and well-blended, homogenous sound sources (such as strings, organs, accordions, saxophones, etc.) to create epic-length ambient operas. While these "operas" are impossible to perform in a concert setting (the longest one spanned 1445 minutes in performance; the shortest is 300 minutes), I sought to create a work which could reflect the gestalt and developmental processes of my "operas", and could fit comfortably within a concert setting. (at times, like its "operatic" predecessors, uses a minimal amount of material (there are about 5 chords in the piece) and makes use of the homogeneity of the piano quartet, in which the strings act as a resonator to the piano, much like Morton Feldman's concept of the "orchestral pedal."

SCORING:

Violin, Viola, Violoncello, Pianoforte