Dreams I Must Not Speak

Description

Flute 1, Flute 2, Piccolo, Flute 3, Oboe 1, Oboe 2, English Horn, Clarinet in Bb 1, Clarinet in Bb 2, Bass Clarinet, Bassoon 1, Bassoon 2, Bassoon 3, Horn in F 1, Horn in F 1, Horn in F 3, Horn in F 4, Trumpet in C 1, Trumpet in C 2, Trumpet in C 3, Trombone 1, Trombone 2, Bass Trombone, Tuba, Timpani, Percussion 1, Percussion 2, Harp, Piano, Celesta, Violin 1, Violin 2, Viola, Violoncello, Contrabass — DREAMS I MUST NOT SPEAK imagines the circumstances surrounding my paternal grandparents’ and aunts and uncles’ emigration from Greece to the U.S. during World War I as they were told to me as bedtime stories by my Papouli (grandfather) before my 12th birthday. Sadly, these events are not unique to the families who endeavored the incredible “leap” across the Atlantic. My family migrated through Malta, Tunis, Algiers, Tangier, Casablanca, Gran Canaria, and finally to New York. Papouli’s anguished stories left a sharp imprint on my young mind and have pervaded my psyche into adulthood with an understanding of what it means to be an engaged citizen; but more poignantly, a grateful American. Even as a young boy I gleaned an understanding of the distress and privations my ancestors endured. These memories, passed down, have become dreams I experience with such haunting regularity that I searched for the opportunity to intimate them in music. It is with this work that I honor my family’s legacy, of which I am a most grateful son.