Talking to the time: for orchestra (2015)

If one were to ask my grandmother to talk about her life, she’d choose to narrate it by walking through her house, telling the story of how she and my grandfather found each antique, trinket, and piece of furniture that completes their home together. One piece she particularly treasures is her grandfather clock; and an especially meaningful moment in my life was when she asked my husband to wind the clock for her, as I have seen my grandfather do a million times before. ""Talking to the Time"" introduces motives and melodies throughout the piece that to me, build upon each other the way one tells a story. Each new melody or section has come from something that has previously occurred as these musical elements develop into a new part of the narrative. Just as my grandmother walks through her home telling her life story, each piece of her home leading to the next chapter in her timeline, this music does the same in its continuous four sections. ❧ I died happy in my sleep... ❧ Our children around and you looking down ❧ from heaven's a julep on the porch... ❧ You and me rocking the grandfather clock is tick tick talking ❧ to the time we used to wind it ❧ -Punch Brothers