Composer’s Note:

“What no one else sees…” for woodwind quintet was written at the request of and first performed by Opus Zoo a professional woodwind quintet based in Copenhagen, Denmark in Fall 2023.

The piece is in three movements (Fast, slow, fast) and is entirely abstract in nature. There is no story, only notes, rhythms, harmonies and colors derived from the endless possibilities of the ensemble.

The title is derived from an idea found in a recent book by Rick Rubin titled “The Creative Act: A Way of Being.” In the book, Rubin talks about the creative process and how it is manifested. The idea that a creative person “sees” something before it is there, and then “sees” things in ways that no one else does seemed to fit well with the idea of this piece. The energy and spirit of the music is what the music is about.

Over the course of my career as a composer, I have spoken to many other artists and many of us seem to share a working process by which small seeds or broad and indistinct vistas are equally useful as general direction for the creation of new work. (And after that, it is all hard work!) What is universally true, is that any idea that will find its way into a final creation has to be worked, crafted, explored, subjected to shaping, molding, and the technical resources and particulars of the medium in which it is created. Painting uses color and two-dimensions; sculpture uses solid materials and three dimensional space; music uses sound shaped by time.

One of my mentors was Ralph Shapey, who famously supplied the same program note for every piece he ever wrote. More or less, it said “the piece should speak for itself.” (Anyone who knew Ralph knew that this was not a casual statement, but one proclaimed as a manifesto!)

“What no one else sees…” was a joy to compose because it was a free expression of the wonderful possibilities of the Woodwind Quintet. No agenda, no story to craft, no expectations to meet, just sound shaped by time with the endless colors of the ensemble. The piece didn’t exist at all a month ago, and in a month from now its sound will be filling the air. Joyous.