Hymnus

Written in 2022 for Piano Quintet (9 minutes)

The biggest thing that sticks with me as I listen to this piece again is that I wish it was so much longer. This piece falls into a temporal space that I think about as “recital sized” pieces, which I personally have very little interest in, but I completely understand the necessity for them, and I completely understand that I won't always have the privilege to make the gargantuanly long pieces that I would prefer.

While working on this piece, I was listening to a lot of renaissance and early church music as well as some traditional, early American folk hymns and Sacred Harp. I wanted to put a few of these ideas into my own work. This piece is related to one of my piano trios, In the Summer in many ways, at least from where some of the material stems from as well. I often think my music sounds too much like what I’m listening to at the time, but maybe all my stuff just sounds the same anyway. A certain administrator for the College of Music at UNT rather publicly pointed out that this piece has no form or any coherent structure at all. I'm inclined to disagree with this assessment, but I appreciate the attention they gave it and I appreciate that the piece was given a good listening to.

My favorite ensemble used to be a piano trio, but add that viola in the mix and now you’re talking.