Found Objects: On the Beach (score & parts) - OB/CL/BSN

For the PEN Trio

From the composer:

I have always loved finding objects in nature and knowing that they have a story to tell. It was while taking walks on the beach during the winter of 2013 in Long Beach, California when I spotted a black feather on the sand and wondered about its story. Where was the bird it came from? Where had the bird travelled and how had that feather helped in this flight? As I began to see more objects on the beach- stones, shells, driftwood, even sea glass during those winter afternoons- I thought about their stories and how I might tell them.

In "Tumbled Stones", the ocean tosses and tumbles the stones in the waves, creating smooth stones, angular stones, and patterned stones through years of being in the ocean and on the sandy ocean floor. The Sea Glass solo movements tell of the beautiful colors of tumbled pieces of glass, tossed much like the stones by the sea. Once part of a jar or bottle, these pieces of glass now reflect smoothness that comes from years of the ocean's effects. 

Also on the beach that winter was a gnarled, twisted, dark brown pieces of driftwood. I imagined this piece of wood, drifting sadly on a lonely, cold sea. In "Driftwood", the movement ebbs and flows with the tide, the wood coming to rest on the sand near a black feather which remembers its joyful, soaring flight.

In the final movement "Seashells" a joyful waltz tells the story of these beautiful, varied shells; colorful and scattered across the beach as far as the eye can see. These many shells form the backdrop on the sand, as the other "found objects" come to rest on the beach from the sea. 

It was an honor to have The PEN Trio premiere this work and to bring to life the stories of these found objects on the beach.

This work has been recorded by the PEN Trio on their debut album, Found Objects: New Music for Reed Trio,