Resilient Earth, includes Seven Preludes for piano and Four Caprices for solo violin. It was composed between April 2020 and February 2022. During this period of Covid isolation, I was thinking about the ongoing destruction of our environment and learning about ecological solutions which could mitigate the climate crisis. The Living Earth, which has the ability to sustain us all, is incredibly resilient and will nurture us if will we nurture it. Each of the Caprices and Preludes is inspired by the natural world and in some cases, our destructive relationship to it.
Resilient Earth was premiered at the Samuel Dorsky Museum, New Paltz, in July 2022, on a concert celebrating Mary Frank’s retrospective show, The Observing Heart. Mary’s painting, Cusp, is on the cover of Resilient Earth and in many ways her art work embodies the spirit of my music. The premiere performance included projections of her art work.
The Caprices were written for violinist, Emmanuel Vukovich. The Preludes were written for a group of pianists: Gilbert Kalish, Ryan MacEvoy McCullough, Mikael Darmanie, Simone Dinnerstein, and Tanya Bannister.
Three duos for violin and piano, part of the Resilient Earth series, will be available after their premiere in Germany in January 2025.
The Preludes:
(total duration ca. 35 min.)
Water
Stars, Sun, Moon
Big Ag, Small Farmer
Dew Drop
In Mary’s Garden
Shooting Ruminants
Winter into Spring
The Caprices:
(total duration ca. 30 min.)
The Chipmunks and the Owl
Stillness by the Pond
Teeming with Life
The Lost Nigun
Video of Premiere Performance
Emmanuel Vukovich, violin – Ryan MacEvoy McCullough, piano
Artwork by Mary Frank – Video by John Feldman
Click on the Chapter menu in the lower right of the video to navigate to the prelude or caprice you would like to view.