Musica Umbra
General
Instrumentation
Woodwinds [2*,2,2*,2*], Brass [4,3,3*,1], Percussion [1+3], Harp, Celesta, Strings
Commission
Commissioned by the Yale Philharmonia for New Music For Orchestra 2024
Score Video
Music Video
About the Work
I've long understood Chopin’s nocturnes not just as musical interpretations of the night, but as artful studies in stark contrast. Composed during late evenings, 'Musica Umbra' takes this aspect of his seminal piano miniatures as its conceptual point of departure, treating moonlit nightscapes as coloristic vessels where the apparent and the unseen are in flux. My work unfolds in a series of sonic vignettes and juxtaposes the serene with the ominous as we periodically lose our bearings in the dodecaphonic dark.
Performance History
Oct 2, 2026
Inauguration
Wieniawski Philharmonic Orchestra, Maciej Tworek (conductor)
Wieniawski Concert Hall · Lublin, Poland
Jun 20, 2025
Brussels Chamber Ensemble, Clio Zois (conductor)
Flagey Concert Hall · Brussels, Belgium
Dec 12, 2024
Premiere
Yale Philharmonia, Stefano Boccacci (conductor)
Woolsey Hall · New Haven, CT, US