For Lydia Notes.

I was thinking about what I should post (hence, the great blog title). And to be honest, I'm sort of out of ideas. Recently, things have been pretty busy. Last weekend was super short. Classes on Saturday and Sunday off and then back at it on Monday. I was really glad that we've had two days this week.

My piece was selected to be a part of this Tuesday night's concert. It's the clarinet and piano piece that I posted the first page of on this blog. I decided to call it simply For Lydia. That's a little something I guess, some background on this piece.

The link on the right side of the page for Lydia Grace Wu will give you more detail on the whole situation, but to summarize, Lydia was a 10 year-old girl who faced a brain tumor with courage and faith. Although she ultimately passed away, the blog was set up as a way to notify family, friends, and her church family of the outcome of the situation. Though posts have been put on by many people, the bulk of the posting is from her father, Simon Wu. I have found the blog an incredibly moving depiction of human suffering and of the tremendous faith in trust that they have exhibited in their Lord throughout the trial.

Lydia and her sisters took piano from my piano teacher in Ohio. I was honored to see the Wu family at a recital a year and a half ago, after I had completed my first semester of my Masters. I can't remember exactly how it happened, but after talking with them for a while I had agreed to write a piece for Lydia. I asked if she had a favorite song and they said Amazing Grace. I purchased a wristband from them and have worn it ever since, deciding to not take it off until I had finished the piece. I've been sitting on this concept for a long time because I've wanted to do it right. My wristband has started to fall apart and with the time I've had to write here, I decided now was the best time to write the piece.

The piece begins with the intervallic content of Amazing Grace, spread out over triads. I've always love the sound of open chords and it seemed a fitting opening. The clarinet comes in on a scale, incorporating the idea of how single pitches are altered by their context. The piece falls into three sections, the first begins in Ab and incorporates a D natural, creating a lydian scale and ambiguity on the piece's tonality, modulating to Eb. The second section uses Amazing Grace as a cantus firmus in the bass and the clarinet plays a melody over the top. The third section is a sort of clarinet cadenza, modulating back to Ab before a final plagal cadence in Eb. The whole of the piece is a sort of giant IV-I, an Amen.

Hopefully after Tuesday I'll have a recording of it up here too. Until then, I guess you'll just have to get by with that single page a ways down. I'll keep you posted.

-BC