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Ebun Oguntola - "Reflections", for violin

from This Is America - An Anthology 2020​-​2021 (ICR023) by Johnny Gandelsman

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about

Reflections is a solo violin piece that reflects upon our emotions and reactions to the multi-faceted and chaotic introduction of the new decade in 2020 onward. The piece starts off with the music illustrating the vision of someone standing and staring out at vast rubble and debris, symbolizing our reflection upon the lacerating calamities we all had to endure, that has destroyed some of the sentimental treasures we cherish, that has utterly reshaped society and the way we’ve structured our lives across the globe. Within the first section of the piece, constant usage of fourths create a contemplative and pensive tone, while also displaying tonal ambiguity, hesitation of a tonal center, to describe how we as people have lost our centers during this time, mentally and frantically, with endless confusion.

In the second section, the flashback begins, and the story of these grievous turn of events unfold. The music at this point conveys our prior anticipation, excitement, and curiosity for what the future may hold in this new decade. However, the fourths in the music soon shift to tritones, one of the most dissonant intervals, to show how our prior anticipation was woefully misled. Tension arises to delineate the tension that arose within our communities. The tension accumulates until its energy snaps our state of sanity, as the tonal center of the music becomes unintelligible, and sixteenth notes drive rampantly, to describe the boundless commotion we encountered, and double stops reappear to show our multilayered circumstances.

In the the third section, the climactic moment of chaos has declined just enough for
us to slightly ease our hyperventilations, slow down, and reflect upon what happened.
Musical ideas are repeated, though altered, to illustrate us analyzing our predicaments and circumstances through a mournful perspective, that transitions us to our current state in time.

The fourth section is the recapitulation of the beginning to signal end to this flashback. Although similar, slight subtleties allude to details previously overlooked, but brought back to our attention after deep reflection.

It is imperative that we take methods to recuperate from such exigent experiences,
and reflecting on them helps in doing so. There is no grounded resolution of the piece to show our story isn’t necessarily finished yet. We are still being affected by these events, but we will take steps to resolve them. - Ebun Oguntola

"Reflections" was generously commissioned by Chamber Music Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, PA)

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from This Is America - An Anthology 2020​-​2021 (ICR023), released July 1, 2022
Johnny Gandelsman, violin

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