This composition was completed in May 2016 and was performed by members of Wet Ink Ensemble Kate Soper, Eric Wubbels, and Erin Lesser.
Program Notes~
I wrote this piece with the fifth stage of the sleep cycle in mind – the cycle where dreams become most active. I wanted to start off with a more relaxed state of deep sleep, so I incorporated the breathing technique of 4, 7, and 8 – inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 7 seconds, exhale for 8 seconds – used to help one fall asleep into the time signature in the first section of my piece. The tempo is set at a quarter note = 60 so that the piece is synced with the pacing of actual seconds. The nightmarish section was inspired by the panic of being chased and the general chaos and uncontrollability of a nightmare. At the end of this section, the chaos abruptly cuts out and one note is sustained, but very softly, and was already playing before the sudden change, so is meant to feel similar to silence. This is the momentary awakening from the dream or at least the tense state of the nightmare. The short third section is a combination of the first two; the form switches back to the first section with the slower tempo but the harmonies are taken from the second section. The harmonies gradually shift back to the pentatonic ones used in the beginning. Rhythms from the second section are distorted but included in this last section to give the impression that when one wakes up, one only remembers small bits and pieces of one’s dreams, some of it distorted, some of it forgotten completely.
