the intersections of our lives (2024)

the intersections of our lives was a line uttered by my therapist at the time, and it was something that resonated with me incredibly deeply. Written in 2024 during my first year of grad school, this piece felt like a collection of all of the suffering I had endured up to that point in my life. I have always struggled with finishing compositions, and had slowly been collecting musical motifs, ideas, and harmonic progressions over many years. They were all fragments that had potential, but no way to connect them. One of my outlets for expression has always been composition, particularly during a season of life that I could not make sense of in that moment. With the thought of with celebrating the “Unicorns” of the orchestra (percussion, piano, and harp), this symphonic work spans over 20 minutes and is structured in seven movements: Prelude, Tenacity, Mirages, Anguish, Fixation, Cessation, Unbroken.

I have fond memories of walking around the campus of California State University Northridge in between practice breaks. On these breaks I would be inspired by the scent of the orange grove, the ducks and turtles in the pond, the beautiful California sunsets, and the ringing of the church bells letting me know that another hour of my life has concluded. These bells had also haunted me. A firm reminder that one hour of my life had passed me by. How had I used it? Had a spent that hour practicing, and if I had, did I practice well? Had I been scrolling on my phone? Or had I spent that hour with my friends laughing in the hallway? No matter how I spent my time, I was haunted by the idea of not making the most of it. Even on days where I had practiced for six hours, it was still hard to justify spending time with friends. These bells are sprinkled in throughout this work representing the many different emotions that I would hear when they sounded.

The intersections of life presents the listener with seven different movements inspired by points of my life.
Prelude introduces a simple palette of color to the listener. Metallic percussion, harp, celesta, and string harmonics suggest a calm and serene state of mind. A direct transition into movement two, Tenacity, shows how quickly our mind can switch up on us. Constant exchanges between instruments, odd meters, ostinati, and deft passages show the persistence of the trailblazers in our lives.
The following movement, Mirages, encapsulates faint memories of dreams. The past lives I have lived, former friends,memories of my late mother who is sometimes still alive in these dreams, and my childhood home. All memories that are far too faint when I wake. This movement suggests longing for a simpler time that is no longer in reach. Then we reach Anguish. Here we are presented with the present. While we long for another time, we must handle what is in front of us. In another timeline, things must have worked out. They have to. This movement aches for forgiveness, only to accept bittersweet memories as a substitution. This movement paints a painful story with dense harmonies and poignant melodies. In a haze of thought, the metallic palette from the prelude returns as movement four draws to a close. This same instrumentation provides the base for the interlude. Movement six is titled Fixation. Checking locked doors, double checking alarms, counting, and repetitive behaviors. You can never be too safe. Past experiences provide example that you have to perform tasks in a certain order or chaos will ensue. Sometimes it feels like a prisoner of your own body and mind. In the penultimate movement, solo piano introduces a joyous ostinato at the start of the seventh movement, Cessation.
Finally, a conclusion. Unbroken. Heroic melodies and rhythmic pulse provide the bulk of this of this movement. Woody percussion, dry harp, and celesta provide a 7/8 groove that is an inevitable “feel good” emotion. A flamboyant E flat clarinet solo soars, showing freedom and cutting ties with the emotions that no longer serve us. As the piece comes to a close in joyous E major, we are greeted with the sounds reminiscent of church bells. Joy. Nostalgia. Regret. Persistence. Hope. All feelings are present, but this is the price we pay to feel. We are being ripped apart but we are alive. 

Instrumentation (Large Symphony Orchestra):

WOODWINDS

Piccolo

Flute I (dbl. bs. fl)

Flute II

Flute III (dbl. al. fl)

Oboe I, Oboe II (dbl. e. hrn)

Clarinet I (dbl. Bb, A, Eb)

Clarinet II (dbl. Bb, A)

Clarinet III (dbl. Bb, A)

Bass Clarinet

Bassoon I

Bassoon II

Contrabassoon

BRASS

Horn I

Horn II

Horn III

Horn IV

Trumpet I (Bb) (dbl. picc)

Trumpet II (Bb) (dbl. picc)

Trumpet III (Bb, C)

Trumpet IV (Bb, C)

Trombone I

Trombone II

Trombone III

Bass Trombone

Tuba

PERCUSSION

Piano (dbl. cel)

Timpani

Percussion I

(Tuned glasses, bird whistles, ride cymbal, sizzle cymbal, two toms, china cymbal, vibraslap, bell tree, woodblock, Zil-bell, tambourine, bass drum, mark tree, small shaker, chimes, suspended cymbal)

Percussion II

(Vibraphone, china cymbal, suspended cymbal, chimes, tuned glasses)

Percussion III

(Crotales, small shaker, sizzle cymbal)

Percussion IV

(Marimba, tuned glasses, tambourine, chimes)

Percussion V

(Tuned glasses, large tam-tam, bass drum, mark tree, whip, tambourine, concert snare drum, triangles, very small woodblock, cowbell, splash cymbal, china cymbal)

Percussion VI

(Glockenspiel, xylophone, sandpaper blocks, woodblock, tuned glasses)

Strings

Violin I

Violin II

Viola

Cello

Bass

Harp I

Harp II