PITY

Details:
for 2 Percussion, Piano, and Electronics
6 minutes

Commissioned, premiered, recorded by Pathos Trio.

About the work:
Memory is a force in and of itself. It holds sway over us, influencing even the basest understanding of ourselves. It is not simply a type of biological documentation. Even the recorded past is only an account of what once was. Our memories offer so much more. There is an understanding of body, mind, and spirit that is embedded within memories. We often seek them out, struggling to dig through the trenches of our deepest thoughts, hoping to uncover the past which only exists to us in fragments. So often do memories collide with one another, distorting and contorting from the impact that they may become something entirely new. Stretching, warping, growing, and shrinking; memories wage war inside of our heads. New experiences beget new memories, but new memories don’t just keep to themselves. They influence the past as we remember it. The past which can only exist to ourselves. The past we have to work for, excavating the tombs of our minds—some of which are still uncovered. But excavation and discovery is not always a joyous endeavor. Regret starts to seep out of the crevices of a newly excavated tomb, perverting our understanding of self. The self-pity swells and overcomes you like a flood. The only way forward is to swim through the sea of memory, but the waves of PITY come fast, threatening to crush you. Memory is a force, and it beckons to you.