Lines is commissioned by Chicago clarinetist Debbie Fenn. As I was working on Lines it became apparent that as much as I was hearing clarinet, I was also hearing violin. Debbie was not going to premier the work for another year--knowing the upcoming concerts of my violin/piano duo, I created the violin/piano version first. Yes, the two versions are very different. In Lines I am continuing to be taken with the sounds that are very spiritual, longing for “something” (like my previous works Domes & Arches ). It is lightly tonal, obsessing on certain lines/chords, searching, etc. The music is calm, patient, feeling what its thinking, thinking what its feeling.... Lines also continues my journey back “home”. By this I mean exploring my roots in a much more concrete manner in the music (and culture) of Turkey/Ottomans and the Byzantium. With all this I am continuing my affinity to bud the wild and the spiritual, the mixing of the very simple with the complex. To find the equilibrium, unity, continuum among the contrasting ingredients is an ongoing passion.
