for solo piano
duration: 15’

MOVEMENTS

I. a bird flies
II. bare branches
III. snowfalls
IV. winter stars
V. the moon’s gaze in a valley of snow

PROGRAM NOTE

Winter reveals—landscapes, forms, lines.

With the falling away of much of the sound and activity of the natural world, we’re able to see the true shapes and structures of what remains. This piece explores some of my favorite (revealed) winter forms: the dark, splintering branches of trees; the swooping arcs of a bird in flight; the soft falling traceries of snow; the undulating folds of barren landscapes; and the cold, clear light of the winter moon or stars.

“Winter Branches” by one of my composition teachers, David Kechley, inspired the title of the second movement; the titles of the last two movements come from Mark Strand’s poem “Lines of Winter,” from which the piece’s title is also derived.