i pass as all things do
for harp, contrabass clarinet, and vibraphone202111’
The piece is comprised of three contiguous sections; the first is focused on white noise, the second on pitched noise, and the third on purer tones. Each section contains one ‘memory’, a shorter passage which is of a different character to the section it occupies.
Dedicated to the memory of Chester (d. 26/11/2020), and inspired by the death-haiku (jisei) of Banzan (d. 15/08/1730):
farewell-
i pass as all things do
dew on the grass
mame de iyo
mi wa narawashi no
kusa no tsuyu
Masterclass performance in 2021 by:
John McCowen, contrabass clarinet
Matthias Engler, vibraphone
Gunnhildur Einarsdóttir, harp