Instrumentation

Violin I
Violin II
Viola
Cello
Contrabass Clarinet in Bb
Vibraphone
Snare Drum I (Piccolo, off stage left)
Snare Drum II (Normal, off stage right)
Electronics

Duration

4 minutes, 30 seconds

Program Notes

I wrote what was during a portion of my life that I knew would be unlike any other. The piece is deeply personal to me, and in a way it is a reflection of this specific time (all the recordings in the piece are voice memos I had gathered over the preceding year). However, at its heart, what was is intended to speak universally; it is an expression of that fruitless desire to hold the wonder and spontaneity of a moment just a little longer, it is a lamentation for the insufficiency of memory and recordings, and it is a celebration of what is and the beauty with which the present flows ceaselessly past us.

Winner of the 2020 SCPA Composition Scholarship Competition.