Klokken (2021)
for solo alto saxophone
commissioned by Charles Lilley
 

Program Note (2021) Klokken, commissioned by Charles Lilly, is titled after a Hans Christian Anderson short story of the same name in which two young boys travel into the forest in search of a mystical bell, which is heard but never seen. Exploring the story as a composer, I sought out the distortion effect of vocalizing through a wind instrument to imitate the unusual harmonic structure of a bell. I hope the sound is as bewildering as the story implies.

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Klokken is paired with another piece of mine, Skyggen, a solo work for a vocalizing flutist, also inspired by an Anderson story. In both pieces, I explore the relationship between performer and their instrument, their breath, and their physicality.

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