Canticle

6:35 min

“I’ve always been fascinated with the way in which music making seems inextricably linked with spiritual, cathartic, andmeditative traditions. Canticle (for string orchestra) was composed in the summer of 2017. It could be heard as short story, or prayer; perhaps regarding a longing, or great loss. A loss has beautiful memories, paired with the ache of the absence. I often think of a string orchestra very much like a choir. Like the voices of a chorus, the strings are al lpart of the same family, sharing the timber and resonance. A solo violin briefly escapes the group to climb out of the texture, only to return to earth. The simple 7 note motif serves as the work’s central theme; a totem, starting and ending on the same D. It’s as if we start where we began, coming into life and living life, as helpless, precious creatures.”

-Jeff Beal