Catherine Fields- The Mysterious Radiance of the Sands

George Mason University
Flute: Eduardo Fajardo
Violin: Kerri Elizabeth Robinson
Piano: Lydia Sorenson
Percussion: Emma Stewart, Hunter Wirt, Elliott Godinez, Michael Abernathy
"What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well."
-Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Le Petite Prince
Faith in the unseen is what carries us through our lives and enchants the visible world with a mystical resplendence. This piece is a reflection on this idea. The flute and violin represent two far-off beings, unable to reach one another, carried by their faith into dialogue. They are first heard in their isolation with yearning melodies lacking a distinct apex and conclusion. Throughout the rest of the piece they are in dialogue, at times contrasting one another, at others, intertwining. At the Tempo Di Scherzo they join in a lilting contrapuntal dance with the xylophone, which leads into the climactic chorus of bells, where the two soloists trade off between playing an accompanying ostinato and an embellished form of the sweeping melody played by the piano and vibraphone. Here, the bass drum enters forcefully with restless rhythmic gestures. The piece ends with an unaccompanied duet wherein the soloists ascend into their highest register and sustain the final note as the percussion make one last statement of the opening material. The piece ends by fading into nothingness, showing the fragility and ephemerality of these dialogues-- fleeting encounters with the invisible.