Shiver and Bloom (2017)

for chamber orchestra
Commissioned by Jeffrey Kahane and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra
1.corA.1.1-1.0.0.0-harp-perc-3.3.3.3.1
13 minutes

Detail from Frog and Scorpion IV by Jonathan Adolphe

WORLD PREMIERE
Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra
Jeffrey Kahane, conductor
March 18, 2017, Alex Theatre, Los Angeles, CA

Shiver and Bloom evokes the perceived divide between the mind and the body. A high, floating, ethereal soundscape captures the wandering thoughts of the mind while a low, grounded, striving motif suggests the physical world of the body. These two contrasting realms swerve together and apart, creating the images of the work's title. The blooming of the low strings, bassoon, and horn yearns for unity with the icier, shivering, detached gestures of the high strings, flute, and clarinet. Over the work's twelve minutes, the worlds intersect and transform one another, melding into a more holistic entity.