Frazar Henry, Composer/Pianist
Recent Works:
...moments before the wind
for cello and live electronics
Memory, far from being a stable part of one’s being, is subject to wild mutation throughout the course of a lifetime. Often it can seem a delicate thing, prone to being buffeted by the events that shape one’s identity. …moments before the wind is a reflection on the fragility of memory. The super-instrument of cello and electronics personifies someone who can’t let go of painful memories, leading to the culmination of the piece: a terrifying roar in which every small instance of pain culminates in a single traumatic moment. They are then left to pick up the pieces of their life and find meaning within the fallen leaves.
Shouting into the Darkness
for string quartet
Moon bouncing was a technique developed during World War II for sending radio waves across large distances. The sender would aim their signal at the moon, which would reflect the radio waves back to the earth to be picked up by a receiver in a distant location. Of course, the moon is not a static entity, and its movements can have a profound impact on the radio waves it reflects. Its revolution around the earth and the various planetary objects which affect its orbit can create a doppler effect on the signal. I portray this effect in my work, Shouting into the Darkness. The piece takes place over an imagined time frame beginning with the moon at its apex in the sky. As it sets, the vastness of space takes over, and no longer do we receive answers for the questions we ask the night.