Facing Snow (2022)

This piece, which began as three sketches for the 2019 COMA Midwinter Composing Course, is inspired by the poem Facing Snow, by the 8th century Chinese poet Du Fu. There are various translations and I’ve taken lines from several ones as inspiration. The poem evokes an unsuccessful unsuccessful attempt by the government to recapture Chang'an city from rebels, and the bleak landscape and grief that the battle leaves in its wake.

Score available on request.