Fault Line
flute, clarinet (dbl b. Clar.), violin, cello, piano
(2015)

Duration: 9 minutes, 30 seconds

Premiered May 2015
eighth blackbird
Chicago IL

Composer’s Note

The inspiration for “Fault Line” came from reading an autobiography of a woman who lived through the Khmer Rouge regime between 1975-1979 in Cambodia. Her story is unlike the history that has been made widely available in that, as a five-year old in 1975, the girl does not know what Khmer Rouge soldiers represent, or what communism is. She does not understand why she is forced to leave her life in Phnom Penh, or why the soldiers took her belongings from her and separated her family. Throughout her memoir she grapples with the loss of her home, her possessions, and her family; she struggles to safeguard her own memories, daydreaming about celebrations of the Lunar New Year, the luxury of warm soup, and a beautiful party dress she once had.

While this piece is not a reflection on or response to the genocide carried out by Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, the idea for “Fault Line” was triggered by the senses of the barely controlled bedlam of a traditional celebration (in the author’s memories) as well as the simultaneously abrupt and drawn out loss of control over one’s own way of life (in the author’s present experience). It was inspired by the exploration of the sometimes fine line between right and wrong, as well as the fragile line between hope and despair. This piece teeters on the brink of agility and chaos, dark and light, celebration and terror.

The work is front-loaded: ensemble textures dip in and out of focus, often getting caught in tangles of register and rhythm; the piano keeps cycling through triplet configurations in what seems like perpetuity at times; and bursts of tutti patterns launch and slowly crumble into misdirected counterpoint. These moments of dramatic activity and action are weighted towards the first half of the piece, with a gradual greying and decay toward the end of “Fault Line.”