Sunlight (2019, Rev. 2023)
for Chamber Orchestra
Original version commissioned by the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, extensively revised and expanded to chamber orchestra.
I am actively seeking the premiere opportunity for this revised version. Please reach out if you are interested. The parts are ready to go!
View the perusal score.
Listen to a MIDI export:
Program note:
I strive to wake up before dawn every morning. I love hearing the bird songs, initially lonesome, then crescendoing into a choir of noise as the day breaks. From the fortissimo C major in Haydn’s Creation and the exhilarating crescendo of the opening of R.Strauss’ Alpine Symphony to the noisy tremolos in Jonathan Harvey’s Bhakti, the sunrise in music is often a clamorous event. My Sunlight similarly depicts a sunrise in violent and luminous sonorities. The climactic sunrise is followed by a dawn chorus of bird songs, which intertwine and transform into one another throughout the piece. By sonically representing the bright light of dawn and imbuing bird songs with lyricism, I wanted to explore the space between mimesis and catharsis and ask the perennial question of how the world transforms in our minds. The ending is a simple meditation on a feather, symmetrically expanding, moving gently in the wind. (J.S.)