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Vijay Iyer
What isn't hard to see
| Subtitle | creative nocturnes for violin and piano |
|---|---|
| Year(s) composed | 2024 |
| Publisher | Schott Music |
| Duration | 12-15 min. |
| Movements | I. unsilent |
| Premiere | May 9, 2024; Washington, DC Thomas Jefferson Building - Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress Curtis Stewart, violin • Vijay Iyer, piano |
| Commission | Commissioned by the McKim Fund in the Library of Congress |
| Composer note | What isn’t hard to see is a set of four nocturnes for creative duo. Working from different aspects of night, the notated material serves as thematic material and as a series of templates for real-time invention. The first nocturne begins in medias res, in an agitated nightscape; the second evokes tense, quiet survival. The third nocturne is dedicated to the late Refaat Alareer, whose best-known poem begins, “If I must die, / you must live / to tell my story…” The fourth nocturne and the work’s title refer to an untitled 2024 poem by Fady Joudah, the final lines of which are: “To see / what isn’t hard to see / in a world that doesn’t.” The piece is dedicated to the Palestinian people, to whom I donate my commission. – Vijay Iyer |