cove - for flute, bass clarinet, and cello

Performed by lovemusic:
Lola Malique, Adam Starkie, and Emiliano Gavito

Filmed live at the auditorium BNU, Strasbourg as part of lovemusic's project "Back to Nature". Cove was commissioned by the collective lovemusic. Project funded with the generous support of the SACEM, Région Grand Est, Ville de Strasbourg. Filmed and recorded by Simon Hanot of Télé-Marmotte Technicien - David Brunner, Visuals - David Bird

As a descriptive or metaphorical title, Cove seemed to encapsulate a broad set of colors, themes, and concepts explored in the work. Just as its coastal recesses amass driftwood and oceanic material over time, my experience in writing Cove reflected a fluid creative environment which collected and fused many disparate musical ideas. The activity explored in the piece depicts a dense and symbiotic one, with performers often playing in strict relationship with one another, much like the symbiotic relationships found in coastal ecosystems or the intricate biological art of Ernst Haeckel. The balance between system and expression also seemed to be a common theme, with many features of the work structured around a distinct tone row. Despite being a reasonably active piece, Cove draws its most significant inspiration from themes of seclusion, intimacy, and memory, as well as my experiences of exploring tide pools as a child and the feeling of being isolated from my family in Southern California due to the pandemic