Composer’s Note:

Irenic (“aiming at or aimed at peace’), subtitled No Ground To Defend, was composed for Lilit Hartunian in February of 2023, in memory of thirteen-year-old Tyler J. Lawrence (December 3, 2009-January 29, 2023), a boy who was killed by gunfire in Mattapan while walking during a visit to his grandparents. [A Tyler Lawrence Memorial Peacemaker Award has been established at the Northeastern University School of Law; the first award, to a Northeastern law student devoted to youth advocacy, was given in June 2023].

This brief violin solo, also dedicated to my beloved brother Tom, currently caring for our elderly mother, and to Arthur Goodridge, a beloved teacher of mine and relative of Tyler Lawrence, is offered, in its vulnerability and inadequacy, as a salve in the wake of tragedy as well as a short call to peer through hazes of resentment together.