Absence of Time

Description

Time is one of the main factors impacting the world and our lives. Einstein saw time as the relationship of the motion of one object relative to the position of another object, as measured through observation. But can we really measure time objectively?Music, the art which moves through time, can affect our perception of time, and can affect each person’s perception of time differently. Depending on the emotion it stimulates, music can make time seem to pass quickly or slowly. A composer can use music to convey time to an audience and different musical ideas can create different sensations of time.“Absence of Time” is a concerto for woodwind quartet and orchestra. It has three main sections (fast, slow, fast), recalling traditional concerto form, but it does not use the solo instruments in the traditional way, i.e., as soloists in contest with the orchestra. Inspired by the idea of juxtaposing different experiences of time, I divided the instruments into two groups: the four soloists and the orchestra. The orchestra functions mostly as the keeper of time (“real” time) while the quartet of soloists fluctuates (in “imaginary” time or in the “absence” of time) around the orchestra’s time. While the quartet’s instruments do play solos, they also play in ensemble with the orchestra. You could say that they play in both “imaginary” time (as soloists) and in “real” time (with the orchestra). In addition to this, the woodwind section of the orchestra plays in conversation with the solo quartet, calling it back to “real” time. Fusion is achieved at the end of the piece through the use of strong, driving rhythm.“Absence of Time” was commissioned by the Pacific Symphony and was first performed by the Pacific Symphony and the Pacific Symphony Woodwind Quartet with Carl St. Clair as conductor on October 20, 2016.