Brenda Portman: Seascapes (flute/organ)

Описание: Seascapes
I. Evocation II. Endless Waves III. Luminescence IV. Tranquility of the Deep

Premiered 5.18.25 at Hyde Park Community UMC, Cincinnati, OH
Program Notes by Brenda Portman
9.7.23
Commissioned by Doppelflöte (Vince Ryan, organ, and Melissa Freilich, flute), Seascapes was composed in July to September of 2023. The commissioners requested an ocean theme, and they shared a quote from The Good Place (a favorite TV show) that was particularly meaningful to them: “Picture a wave. In the ocean. You can see it, measure it, its height, the way the sunlight refracts when it passes through. And it's there. And you can see it, you know what it is. It's a wave. And then it crashes in the shore and it's gone. But the water is still there. The wave was just a different way for the water to be, for a little while. You know it's one conception of death for Buddhists: the wave returns to the ocean, where it came from and where it's supposed to be."

The piece has four sections or movements, but there is no pause after the first or the third. It opens with a haunting flute solo to portray a person sitting on the beach alone, looking out over the ocean, and experiencing feelings such as nostalgia, loneliness, awe, or peacefulness. This transitions into a section where the endlessness of the waves is explored through rhythm and melodic contour. The meter of 5/8 was chosen because it has a certain unevenness to it, as if one were resting in a docked boat, allowing oneself to be gently rocked by the lapping waves, but without a predictable pattern to the rocking sensation. Ascending and descending melodic figures mirror the up and down of the waves, with syncopated rhythms superimposed, giving a minimalist feel (the repetition further illustrates the endlessness of the waves). This momentum continues for a few minutes and then gently subsides.

The next section focuses on the idea of luminescence, or moonlight shimmering on the surface of the water. In contrast to the minimalist section where there were melodic and rhythmic patterns, here there are no repeating motives, but simply an effort to bring out a shimmery effect through registration (particularly 8’ and 2 2/3’ flute stops) and oscillating figures in the organ, and staccato sixteenth notes in the flute. This grows into the final section, which depicts the massive, expansive nature of the ocean, but at the same time brings a tranquility that can be nourishing to one’s soul. This is accomplished through fuller, slow-moving chords alternating with passages of beautiful melodic lines in the flute combined with simple accompaniment in the organ. The full sound gradually becomes more subdued, and the flute re-introduces its opening evocative melody, this time in a duet with the organ, almost like bird calls, and finally fading into the atmosphere.