SEAN FRIAR Two Solitudes
[rev. 10/2014]
for flute, viola, and harp Commissioned by the New World Symphony (Miami, FL), Artistic director, Michael Tilson Thomas
Duration: 11 minutes Program Notes: The prevailing affect of this piece is one of dreamlike weightlessness; and of searching for something, finding it, and then drifting away from it. (The delicate nature of this piece is quite a departure from the typical character of my music – high-energy, explosive, and humorous.) The music begins in a barren and austere place, with an insistent pattern in the harp suggesting this piece might simply be about the unfolding of a rhythmic process. However, the music gradually drifts away from this rigidity and blossoms into something more lyrical and vibrant, before retreating back into isolation. The relationship of the individual instruments follows this trajectory, as well: the flute and viola at first seem completely tethered to the harp, following it, almost emerging in its wake; slowly, they begin to take on more independence and individual character, before reintegrating themselves into the harp at the end. Though the title may suggest otherwise, the piece is in a single movement; the title comes from a quote of Ranier Maria Rilke’s, which discovered near the end of the composing of the piece: Love consists in this, that two solitudes protect and border and salute each other. The notion that – even in love – two entities remain separate and can only in fleeting and imperfect moments transcend this separation, captured for me the shape of the piece and the relationships between the instruments.
This work was first performed by members of the New World Symphony (Grace Browning, harp; Henrik Heide, flute; Anthony Parce, viola) on April 26, 2014 at the New World Hall in Miami Beach, FL.
Copyright © 2014 by Sean Friar Music (ASCAP)