Méditation sur ma mort future; dédié à M. Froberger

 Written in 2021 for solo harpsichord (9 minutes)

For so long, I’ve wanted to write a piece for harpsichord but never really had a chance or a reason to do it. I’ve considered sending some of my piano music to a few players just to see what it sounded like and I tried chatting with some folks at UNT but things never really took off or formulated. Still, I’ve always had a lot of love for the instrument and went through a phase during my Bowling Green years where I listened to as many Elisabeth Chojnacka recordings I could find and when I studied with Antoine Beuger in 2019, he turned me on to the work of Johann Jakob Froberger (1616-1667). Froberger’s work is mesmerizing, and he pioneered so much. From musical form, programmatic music, and such a rich attention to detail in the slow unfolding resonance on the instrument – it’s hard not to be in awe of this person who has become something of a legendary or mythological figure in my head.

The title of the piece is a copy of Froberger’s Méditation sur ma mort future and is dedicated to him.

In the fall of 2022, The UNT Nova Ensemble performed Eight Songs for a Mad King and had to loan a harpsichord from UNT’s stellar Early Music Program. Finally, I had access to an instrument and could sit and work on a piece. I already knew what I wanted the opening to be – what is essentially the “main theme” – but when I went to play the piece, perhaps from playing so much quiet piano music, I noticed that if I slowly pressed down on the keys, the quill would pull on each string separately getting these repetitions of each tone. This repetition, the resonance of the instrument, and the relationship between register and density became the focus of the piece.

Because this piece was written for me – a meditation, alone – I never made a real score, but sketched gestures and ideas from sitting with the instrument. The recording offered here is certainly the piece, but the writing process and the final form of the piece was done in the recording. I haven’t made a real, engraved score, but the sketched page is offered above. If anyone ever wants to play this piece, I will certainly make a real score (but we’ll probably need to work through that process together).