My Two "Play" Pieces

July 1, 2020, 9:28 PM · Over the weekend, I engraved and completed two short pieces that both have to do with the concept of "play". I think, especially in these dark days of COVID, it's important to remember about games and recreational activities, as ways to keep us going in-between the slow grind in the dark moments life has been bringing us lately. However, this month I hope to turn to the darker moments, especially regarding systemic racism, to try and think about these topics through some new music.

I have a link to a video on my YouTube channel where I ramble on about them for 20 minutes, but here's a quick description of each:

"A Day Two Play" - for two violins

I wrote this piece for TwoSet Violin; they recently posted on their social media asking if composers would write them pieces to perform. This piece tries to keep both parts as equally important as possible, and utilizes pizzicato and short, staccato notes to keep the music bouncy and fun. There are moments that feel like the fourth movement of Ravel's String Quartet, and the big climax lands on a soft, calm section, as if to ask the players to contain their excitement so as to not forget about where they are. I think it would be a very fun piece to perform with my friend someday - we are currently trying to figure out a time to rehearse outside together, fighting with the summer heat!

"Coin Flip" - for reed quintet (oboe, clarinet, saxophone, bass clarinet, bassoon)
Here are the program notes I wrote for this piece:

This work tries to exploit the unique and wonderful colors of the
woodwind instruments to create an innocent little piece that is all about play.
Having been written in the middle of the 2020 pandemic, I was channeling
inspiration from my recent soundtrack I wrote for a video game I made. In
thinking of the importance of play, I molded the initial sketches I had for the
piece into this short work. In titling the work, I thought about the light, bouncy
nature of the music. This brought pinball machines to mind, where players
inputted coins into machines to operate the flippers. It also suggests the act of
a coin toss, which is often used to determine turn order in a party game.
Much of the piece contains moments where the entire ensemble plays
staccato chords together, allowing for plenty of space in-between to retain a
light feeling. A couple of extended techniques are used to emphasize parts of
the piece, such as a chord morphing up a half-step, or another part’s entrance.
The introduction, at the slowest tempo in the piece, summarizes the work’s
motives, which are then developed in the faster middle section. The most
important of these is the collection of the first three pitches of the piece; they
transform into the main melody of the piece in bar 20. The end of the piece at
bar 77 concludes the arc of the motifs, and ends with a raucous, not dissimilar
to one a young child may have pounding away at the piano for the first time.

If you want to listen to the pieces, skip to the following timestamps in the video below. They were both written together, so I expect them to feel pretty similar, which I think is a neat aspect about them. No worries if not - I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day!

"A Day Two Play" - [5:21]
"Coin Flip" - [12:33]

Watch my video

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My Two "Play" Pieces

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