The Edge of All I Know

ensemble 2 bass clarinets
written spring 2023
duration 8 minutes

Commissioned by Lara Mitofsky Neuss

“My God my bright abyss
into which all my longing will not go
once more I come to the edge of all I know
and believing nothing believe in this.”
- Christian Wiman

The Edge of All I Know borrows its title from a book by Christian Wiman, a poet who writes extensively on the frequently contradictory yet sometimes beauteous nature of faith. Wiman’s work is filled with both gentle meditation and impassioned doubt, and as such, this piece employs grating, ‘dirty’ flutter-tongue and multiphonics against long-lined melodies. The music begins and ends with two soliloquizing bass clarinets in the style of organum, their lines weaving in and around one another as they alternate between supporting drones and plainchant. In the middle, however, the music becomes anxious and raucous, evoking the constant struggles of doubt by whirling through wispy arpeggios and vicious extended techniques. The piece’s ultimate portrayal of faith is ambiguous, as has been my own experience with it.

Many thanks to Lara Mitofsky Neuss and Tim Hanley for commissioning and realizing the piece.