Filtered Light
While my music is generally not programmatic, in writing "Filtered Light" I set the intention of meditating on nature and then allowing emergent associations to inform my composing. Specifically, as a resident of NYC, I became interested in the dramatic contrasts of parks and city. Sharp lines separate Central Park from skyscrapers, for example, and community gardens offer hidden enclaves of respite from the city. I imagine these green spaces as providing much needed oxygen to city dwellers: they create a sense of spaciousness amidst the harder concrete edges that surround us.
The piece includes both energies, nature and city, and during the process of writing, several specific images informed textures and sections. The opening music is like flickering sunlight dancing on leaves. By contrast, the aggressive, rhythmic music that follows is an urban, tribal dance. Other sections mix the energies of these two musics into saturated and bright synergies.
Adam Roberts
Adam Roberts’s music has been performed by ensembles such as the Arditti Quartet, the JACK Quartet, and le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne. Awards for his music include a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Fromm Commission, and the Benjamin H. Danks Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. A portrait disc was released on Tzadik Records, and other pieces can be heard on New Focus Recordings and Lila Müzik. Roberts studied at the Eastman School of Music (BM) and Harvard University (PhD), and has taught at Harvard, Northeastern University, Istanbul Technical University, and University of Georgia. He is currently Assistant Professor of Composition at Kent State University.
www.adamrobertscomposer.com