For violin, violoncello, and piano

In With Bated Breath, I pay respect and homage to Brahms’ Tragic Overture. My goal was to capture the emotional essence of the overture, while also using the opening motive as a building block throughout the work. Fusing my own musical language with the Tragic Overture created a new musical landscape in my writing that I was excited to explore. Despite living today in relative world peace, I feel there are immense amounts of tension, anger, angst, and fear seeping through us. We as humans are not doing enough to reverse climate change, mental health is not being addressed properly, and gun violence is still destroying lives. This work mirrors these waves of anxious thoughts. I believe the Tragic Overture’s dark emotional aura perfectly complements these restless subjects, perhaps giving the audience more questions than answers.

Score and Parts.

Duration: 10 minutes