Current Events
Alex Shapiro
About this work:
Current Events ponders the ocean's tides as well as waves of a more internal, emotional nature. Living very near the water, communing with tide pools has been a constant in my life; if I weren't a musician I might well have become a marine biologist. As our above-sea level world continues on its restless and sometimes frightening path, I walk to the ocean for truth and a mirror; staring into the water I seek out life forms that encounter their own dramas, good and bad, with each wave. I wonder how, like us, they endure.
The power of a storm surge creates a much higher tide level than predicted under normal weather conditions. In this instance, the storm to which the music refers is as related to world events as it is to oceanic ones. Ebb tides expose the shoreline at its most private, and reveal creatures usually hidden under deeper waters. The music of this second movement addresses loss, grief and uncertainty, as life's own protective tides occasionally pull away and leave us equally naked and vulnerable. Dangerous rip currents are unexpected and challenging, pulling objects, human and otherwise, involuntarily away from shore. As with so many things in life, such threats can be overcome by calm and measured action.
Like the ocean's currents, change in life is constant. It's how we adapt to the flow that makes all the difference.
Year composed: 2003
Duration: 00:15:00
Ensemble type: Chamber or Jazz Ensemble, Without Voice:Unknown
Instrumentation: 2 Violin, 2 Viola, 1 Cello