A Map of Non-Existent Places (2018)
Written for B-flat Clarinet Duet
Duration: 9 - 11 minutes
Program Notes
When starting a piece, I think of title first. From the title alone, I use the one word or set of words to help me anchor down an idea of what the music is suppose to be about. Originally, I wanted to do something along the lines of Where the Wild Things Are but convinced myself that that idea has already been manipulated many times. However, I found something interesting about the story: whenever the boy wakes up, he is never able to return to the land of monsters. After a while, I began to realize that most stories that involve a child (or adult) dreaming have one thing in common: once they return back to reality, they can never return to the dream. In some sense, the dream never existed and the "map" that the dreamer once had will never be able to return them to their non-existent fantasy.
A Map of Non-Existent Places (2018) is based on the idea of the unfamiliarity but yet familiarity of dreams and how we explore them. When approaching sleep, we are lulled into it by slowly fading in and out; sudden rapid gestures representing the involuntary jerks that our bodies make as we dive into this unknown world. As the dream settles, we are stuck within this constant drive of wanting to know where we are going, how we got there. When our dream finishes, we are still stuck within this lulled moment…our dream fading away, making us unable to return to the exact dream ever again.
The piece was commissioned by the Acoustic Frontier, a group that explores new realms of musical thought and tests audiences’ reactions to the way these new musical ideas are utilized. The program brings an overall awareness to the importance of the continuing support for the arts and the importance of embracing new artists and their music.
Performance History
March 13, 2018 - World Premiere
Brooklyn, NY - SPECTRUM Venue
October 8, 2018 - CLUTCH Concert 1
Austin, TX - University of Texas at Austin, Butler School of Music