Work Overview
In 2020, I was hit across my face. It was by someone I had known for about a year. We did have a strange relationship dynamic, but in any case, being hit by someone you trust in any capacity is violating. I remember the siren of fear that rang in my head, and it rushed back every time I crossed paths with him over the next couple years. I wanted to zoom in and extrapolate that specific siren and feeling into a piece of music, and that became He Hit Me.
There are two ideas in this work; the very brooding and unsettled opening with an obsessive and nagging heartbeat-like rhythm in the background which starkly sits against an extremely intimate and tender moment that feels like a nursery rhyme. In the context of very dark musical material and subject matter, these quiet and gentle moments take on an awful bittersweetness. To me, it evokes an image of someone rocking back and forth in the corner trying to calm themselves down by singing to themselves, telling themself "it's going to be okay."
Work Details
Year: 2024
Instrumentation: Piano.
Duration: 7 min.
Difficulty: Advanced — some improvisation required
Commission note: Financially supported by Kim Radok.
First performance: by Ronan Apcar — 8 Nov 24. Rosina Auditorium, Abbotsford Convent
Performances of this work
8 Nov 24: Rosina Auditorium, Abbotsford Convent. Featuring Ronan Apcar.
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