Tapped into the same vein

March 3rd, 2017

Christ Church of Philadelphia for the
Poor Richard’s Chamber Music Society

Lina Bahn, violin
Yuri Namkung, violin
Jessica Meyer, viola
David Yang, viola
Eliana Yang, cello

6’30″​

“Meyer’s exuberance, as well as her affinity for both Baroque and rock music shone through fully in ‘Tapped into the same vein’ (2017). Five strings used the familiar vocabulary of both genres merging and stretching the concept.”

Sarasota Herald Tribune

PROGRAM NOTE

“An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way.” ― Charles Bukowski

I feel that Baroque and Rock music share some commonalities – driving rhythms, use of harmonic suspensions, and certain compositional techniques that are relatively simple compared to other kinds of music. However, couched in that simplicity, the music can be expressing emotionally difficult things – and for this reason, I think they are both tapped into the same vein. In this piece, I wanted to express an emotionally intense and complicated experience in the simplest music terms while using the different compositional techniques you would find from artists like Bach and Bowie.