Lift
composed in 2006 - for solo cello
Lift is a short piece for solo cello. Writing for a solo instrument creates a number of compositional problems, as there’s only so much than can be done with one line. In Lift, I try to simulate multiple lines by constantly returning to a repeated drone pattern throughout the piece. But the cello constantly leaps up and away from the drone, each time moving further and growing more energetic before falling back to earth.
A composition teacher once compared this work to a man ascending a mountain and reaching a tree at the top, then climbing the tree, then somehow rising further into the stars. This is a more poetic description than the one I gave in the prior paragraph, so maybe you should stick with it.
