Deepest Shade (2017)

for flute, bassoon, and piano - 12'

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Deepest Shade is about the combination of two ideas that are woven together and developed throughout the piece: (1) the voice-leading from the shape-note Sacred Harp tune “Idumea” and (2) an asynchronous, flock-like gesture that speeds up then slows down. The title comes from one of the lines of the Sacred Harp tune: “A land of deepest shade, Unpierced by human though; The dreary regions of the dead, Where all thing are forgot!” This piece was written for my friends and colleagues Michael Harley, Jennifer Parker-Harley, and Phillip Bush.