Erasures

for amplified clarinet, cello and piano

This piece was inspired by frustration stemming from writer’s block during the first year of my Master’s program. The first few minutes of it consist of different sound configurations involving gestures and sketches from other pieces that I ended up scrapping during that year. The only difference is that all of the instruments in this context are focused on very muted, percussive timbres to represent the hushed, silenced ideas that had been unable to fully form during that year. Eventually, the irony of the piece is discovered as all of these “scraps” begin to form the foundation of the piece. As tension and frustration accumulate, discernible pitches start appearing and represent a sort of liberation from this censored self-doubt. Once the instruments finally sing out, they soon reach a climax and return to the “scraps” from the beginning, a return to what was perceived initially as detritus but can now be considered foundational material. The instruments are all amplified to be able to detect the subtle timbral explorations that occur in all of the instruments through the use of extended techniques.

Full Score