Big Sky

Instrumentation: violin/cello and piano

Year: 2013

Duration: 11 minutes

Program Note:
When I set out to write Big Sky I was interested in the concept of space, inspired in part by my travels to Idaho and New Mexico.  There is a certain, almost indescribable, sense I get looking out into the vastness of the sky, especially from the top of mountain or a tall building.  It is a perception of a limitless expanse that is frozen in time.  Moreover, I hear a very specific kind of music associated with this feeling and it’s that music that begins and ends my piece. While the bookends of Big Sky are inspired by this notion of endless space, I did not want the piece to feel static and motionless. The piece, therefore, diverges from its point of origin and gradually morphs into something entirely different by the middle before returning to where it began.