Terrain

Instrumentation: piano solo
Duration: 04:30
Premiere: TBA

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Program Notes

Composed for Clare Longendyke, the origins of Terrain come from a visit to the largest deserted area and one of the northernmost points in Iceland, the Hornstrandir Nature Preserve. In 2022, I set foot in this empty wilderness for seven days, carrying all that I would need in a bright red pack snugly tethered to my back. In my research of this landscape, I came across articles warning of the tales of others who had become lost or had to immediately return due to tent-destroying wind and other weather for which they were unprepared. These stories were nagging me as I thought about the upcoming week that would require complete self-sufficiency in total solitude.

The weather was not as I hoped. It was foggy and rainy for most of the trek and while I was forced to accept the journey I was meant to have, I was disappointed. The views that I sought were veiled by fog and clouds, which I would quickly come to view as a curtain — opening and closing to curate my journey in a translucent world that became more evocative than oppressive. 

Terrain begins very quietly with an occasionally ornamented single note (F). The rhythm is deliberately notated to avoid any sense of rhythm — conveying awkward, unsure footsteps on uneven ground — and asks the pianist for a sustained focus while maintaining a steady and controlled sound that hovers on the cusp of silence. The music then moves through larger blocks of sound — some dissonant and noisy, and some consonant and modal to highlight encounters with arctic foxes and other wildlife, stunning vistas and waterfalls, weather events, gargantuan geographic features, and difficult physical challenges. Each section of this music can be tied to specific features of the terrain, but the sounds are meant to capture the overall experience of encountering the mystical and atmospheric features of the journey.