shadow blending

The quartet, shadow blending, was inspired by a late afternoon photo I took at the Salt Flats at Death Valley. The piece explores the delicate interplay of the solidity of geologic textures against the everchanging ephemeral shadows they cast, highlighting the fleeting moments of experience and the fragility of existence and memory. As the composition unfolds, the intertwining traces of earth and shadow become psychologically inseparable, creating a sonic expression that blurs the line between the tangible and the intangible. This work explores human perceptions, navigating the space between what is physically present and what lingers as afterimages fade, particularly as the long evening shadows envelop the geologic formation. In shadow blending, listeners are invited to reflect on the delicate balance of reality and memory, capturing the essence of fleeting moments within a rich auditory landscape.

The piece undergoes two significant transformations. The first transition shifts from a soundscape characterized by tremolos that emerge into a clear melodic line. This short melodic motif gradually unfolds as it is picked up by all four string instruments throughout the piece, creating a dynamic interplay between unison passages and staggered rhythmic figures of descending glissandi.

The second transformation begins midway through the piece with dense and frenetic textures as the quartet unites to produce rapid bursts of seventh chords that change dramatically in quick succession, ranging from two to five note bursts. As the piece continues, the lines increase in length before the violins fade away, revealing the lower registers that represent the sonic shadows that shift throughout the composition.