Written for the American Youth Symphony through the 2019-20 Los Angeles Philharmonic Nancy and Barry Sanders Composer Fellowship Program.

Performance was cancelled due to COVID; recording is MIDI. Cover art by Carolina Arévalo.

Instrumentation:
- 2 flutes
- 2 oboes
- 2 clarinets in Bb
- 2 bassoons
- 4 horns in F
- 2 trumpets in Bb
- 2 trombones
- bass trombone
- tuba
- timpani (3)
- 1 percussion (suspended cymbals, bass drum)
- harp
- strings (violin I, violin II, viola, violoncello + contrabass)

KOSMOS

"A Taper into Darkness" was inspired by Arvo Pärt and spiritual minimalism. This piece takes one line of music, which follows a pattern, and dilutes it with a minor chord throughout. The line keeps expanding and new material is introduced, until the dramatic recurrence of the percussion and trombone towards the end. 

I chose the title "A Taper into Darkness" because of an image I had when writing the piece: a church with candles on the balconies and hallways, with each candle burning out one by one, until, as symbolized at the end of the piece, the final candle goes out. The title is also a play on words because "taper" can mean slowly reducing, while a taper is also a type of candle. 

Orchestration:
piccolo, 2 flutes + 2 trumpets, cornet, trombone + timpani + bass drum, cymbals, tubular bells + strings

Sound is computer generated (MIDI).

A Taper into Darkness

Based on the poem "Do not go gentle into that good night" by Dylan Thomas.

Orchestration:
Piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, bass clarinet, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon + 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 2 trombones, bass trombone, tuba + timpani (C, D, F, G) + 2 percussion + harp + choir (soprano, alto, tenor, bass)+ strings

Sound is computer generated (MIDI).

Rage

Song by Apsara Kasiraman.
Lyrics by William Shakespeare, from "Hamlet" (3.1.57-89)

Apsara Kasiraman

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