Nomad Suite

Year composed: 2019

Instrumentation: flute, guitar

Duration (approx.): 10′

NOTES:

Commissioned by and dedicated to the Cerulean Duo: Sarah Tiedman, flute, and Mario Diaz, guitar

i. cacti dreams

ii. desert nocturne

iii. hit the road

PERUSAL SCORE

Coming soon.

PROGRAM NOTES

All who wander aren’t necessarily lost, and those who are lost might not have been wandering in the first place. But we travel along our paths whether we have a destination in mind or not, and for most its the journey, not the destination, that gives meaning to our daily lives.

My piece, Nomad Suite, was inspired by a poem by Robin Beth Schaer titled Nomad that I felt encapsulated this kind of wanderlust at the heart of our journeys. Desert imagery was at the center of my mind as I was composing this duet. The piece begins from the perspective of a dreaming cactus, thorns pointed outward defending itself from desert predators, roots firmly planted in the ground.

In the second movement the piece moves outward to the desert itself, stars glittering and simple songs sung by the fireside.

The piece concludes in the third movement by finding a lonesome road that is splitting the desert in two. A path unknown leading us to an unknown destination through energetic riffs and strumming.

By Jay