Sanguine

for SOLO CELLO

Trying to make music during the Covid-19 pandemic reaffirmed more than ever that music is a social activity best experienced in a room with fellow human beings. However, these hardships created new opportunities for collaboration across great distances and I am grateful for the many remote projects I was able to realize during this difficult year.

Sanguine was written for Los Angeles-based cellist Ashley Walters through the nief-norf 1:1 program. Though we weren’t able to gather in-person in Tennessee in 2020, Ashley and I workshopped Sanguine over a series of Zoom rehearsals. I am grateful for Ashley’s artistry and the time she took with me to make this piece possible.

Sanguine is written in just intonation and uses pitches from the natural harmonic series to create pure sonorities and unexpected microtonal dissonances. It is inspired by fiddling and folk idioms as well as the music of just-intonation pioneers like Ben Johnston and James Tenney. At its core, Sanguine embraces the humanity and embodiment that is central to music-making, even when that requires Zoom rehearsals and great distances. Like the blood in our veins, music cannot exist without bodies to play and ears to hear, and Sanguine celebrates this physicality.

Interview with Christopher Adler and Andy Bliss (Nief-Norf)