Prelude: Chorus Somnum

Written in 2019 for oboe, clarinet, violin, viola, and double bass (5 minutes)

Original program note:

Chorus Somnum, Latin, approximately translates to Sleep Chorus, Sleep Chorale, or Sleep Dance. That hazy period in the early moments of sleep: hypnopompia and hypnagogia. A slow, quiet state of transition.

Written for Elizabeth Fleissner.

Liz asked me to write a short opening piece for a recital focusing on the theme of nighttime and sleep. Thinking about the long stretching illusion of time before sleep, I began to think about the piece as a some sort of Bach chorale, but stretched and thin. The orchestration of this short piece proved challenging for me; this is an ensemble I never expected to work with, and I would never claim to be a master of writing for double reeds. Because Liz is an oboist, I got really wrapped up in my head about the oboe and what it could do. My music is often so quiet and blended, and I never thought the oboe would really be able to grasp this in a way that worked… I’m sure Prokofiev (who essentially invented the ensemble by necessity and accident) faced similar challenges starting his iconic Quintet, but because of his work, a fantastic collection of pieces for the ensemble have been written. I’m thankful to have had to opportunity to discover them, and I’m excited by what I learned in the process. Now, revising this note in 2023, I think I could tackle this instrumentation pretty fearlessly.