Music

https://www.derekcoopercomposer.com/crystalcaverns

Imagine a cave, filled with crystals that can glow even when no other light is present. As they glow, they sing a song to each other not of our world. The idea for Crystal Caverns originally came from the idea of light shining through a crystal in such a way that it refracted into a spectrum of different colors. One ray of light enters, but many rays of color exit. The same concept is conceived in the lower saxophones as one stream of air enters the horn, but multiple notes exit at the same time through multiphonics. From there, I imagined a cave full of these crystals. It’s a beautiful, magical, and engaging image that has been conjured in many fantasy and sci fi mediums; a cave full of multicolored crystals glowing, seemingly without anything to give them initial illumination. And so, the layers that go over these hypnotic multiphonics create a realm of magic and wonder, but also mystery as I imagine what a cavern full of these crystals would sound like.

An excerpt from the premiere by Iridium Saxophone Quartet at the 2019 Red Note New Music Festival

Crystal Caverns - Iridium - Excerpt

In Andean history, there was an Incan warrior princess named Huillac Humu. During the Spanish discovery of Chile during the 1500s, this princess and her tribe were forced from their area in what is now Northern Chile. She managed to escape her captures with a group of her people and disappear into the wilderness where she began a campaign of guerrilla warfare against the Spanish conquistadors and their attempt to spread their culture and Christian beliefs, earning her the name La Tirana. After a while though, she fell in love with one her prisoners, Almeyda, a Spanish soldier. It was a forbidden love that they kept secret for a time. Eventually though, her tribe discovered her affair with Almeyda and sentenced them both to death. While waiting to be executed next to her lover though, Huillac committed herself to Christianity so that her soul could find Almeyda’s in the afterlife.
La Tirana follows this story in its four movements. The first movement reflects her time as a captive in the desert with the cadenza that follows, acting as her escape. The second movement conveys her war rampage against the Spanish. The third movement elicits similarities to traditional Andean folk music and instruments as a love song is shared between the alto flute, the guitar, and the viola. Finally, the fourth movement paints the picture of the tribe’s rage against their leader’s betrayal, and the execution of Huillac and Almeyda. At the end of the piece, the violist slowly leaves, while playing ascending pairs of notes, representing the souls of the two lovers, never parting one another as they leave this life for the next.

La Tirana Mvt. III

La Tirana Mvt. II

La Tirana Mvt. I

a string quartet is like a flock of birds (2020) 
nine meditations and dances for string quartet

Commissioned by Kinetic Ensemble in Fall 2020

Performed Nov. 1st, 2020
Kinetic Ensemble - Textures of Change
Live Oak Friends Meeting House
Houston, TX

I've been thinking a lot recently about togetherness and apartness; how while we grieve and reckon with the collective trauma of the pandemic we've been isolated from one another, but at the same time we're still struggling to find new ways to connect. And in a certain sense, a string quartet epitomizes these ideas: it's a coming together of disparate things, fusing solo virtuosity with a more communal, receptive way of playing. All four parts are equal, and each player has to be both a follower and a leader. And I've also thinking about how wrong it feels to be creating something slow and somber to be performed now, when a return to music-making should really be a cause for joy and celebration. a string quartet is like a flock of birds is structured in 9 interlocking movements, with slow, reflective meditations alternating with fast, rhythmic dances. The whole quartet is focused on the musical idea of togetherness: the 4 parts fit together like a puzzle, and only when all the parts are fit together do melodies emerge. Each section in the piece is about the players slowly finding each other: sometimes overlapping, sometimes drifting apart into different kinds of motion, circling around each other like birds in flight. 

https://www.paulnovakmusic.com/
https://www.kineticensemble.org/

Image: Photo by Daniel Biber

Crystal Caverns - Iridium - Excerpt

Derek Cooper