dyin', tryin', all the same

lights out (demo)

not that easy

scarred

Fools (COVER) By 랩몬스터 & 정국 of BTS

Ritalin City Part 1: Welcome

a silence kinder

This piece was inspired by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s book The Little Prince.  Follow The Little Prince as he journeys away from his small planet, a planet that is hardly bigger than a house, and onto Asteroids 325, 326, 327, 328, 329, 330, and eventually Earth. 

Dedicated to Emily Boyer and Colleen Potter Thorburn of Apple Orange Pair. Grateful thanks for working with me so closely on the techniques of the piece and being an absolute joy to write for.

Email jonwhitin@gmail.com for inquires about the score!

In the Vicinity of Asteroids  325, 326, 327, 328, 329, and 330

"Soliloquy" for trombone and piano captures an inner dialogue moving through a series of different moods and emotions.  The work is a set of variations on a theme stated immediately by the trombone, with some tangents along the way.  The piece was written for the 2017 International Trombone Festival Composers' Workshop.  

This recording features William Lang and Anne Rainwater premiering the work at Arete Gallery in Brooklyn, NY in April 2018.

Purchase Sheet Music

Soliloquy

progressively smaller TVs

Four Corners Ensemble, "Migration" concert, OPERA America, New York, Nov. 23, 2019.

Erika Boysen, flute
Joshua Anderson, clarinet
Christina Adams, violin
Horacio Contreras, cello
Annie Jeng, piano

Program notes:
Four Many life moments are universal, and sharing emotions through storytelling is a valuable tool for bringing people together and making us feel like we’re not alone. The Hero’s Journey, also known as the monomyth, was a story-structure that was first popularized by Joseph Campbell. He noticed that many myths, not all, follow a similar pattern of events. In the same way that many stories share similar events and structures, people react with similar emotions when confronted with big life moments. Through this piece, name;known, I wanted to explore the universality of emotions within storytelling while using the monomyth as a guide.

"Crossing the Threshold" follows the growing anticipation of entering into that something new. The music is constantly unsettling and reaffirming itself as the harmonies and rhythms reach arrival points and then immediately change. The movement, while energetic and exciting, is anxious in nature.

"Abyss" is the emotionally lowest point of the piece. You just hit rock bottom. The slow-moving and transparent textures create a sense of hopelessness and fear; that whatever your goal was, it is now futile and impossible. However, the movement ends with a quote from the first movement and reminds the listener that the original call to action is still meaningful.

"Arrival Dances" explores both the euphoria of having accomplished something as well as the uncertainty that follows the completion of that task. The movement follows a rondo form, bringing back and venturing into different sections while never allowing the celebratory main theme to take hold for too long.

While we’re experiencing this journey, we feel anxiety, fear, and nervousness all with a fear of the unknown, but the knowledge that these experiences are universal is inherently comforting.

Sawyer Harrington-Verb - name; known

In the Vicinity of Asteroids 325, 326, 327, 328, 329, and 330

June Violet

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