Violin, cello, piano

Duration: c.18’

Commissioned by Longleash Trio and the Library of Congress Serge Koussevizky Music Foundation.

Premiered November 7, 2022, University of Louisville New Music Festival, Louisville, KY — Longleash Trio

I. Agile, crisp c. 4'30
II. Fragile, sinking c. 5'
III. Jittery, mechanical c. 3'
IV. Brisk, bells clanging c. 5'

different gravities is a musical take on ideas and images that have been rolling around in my head since reading Liu Cixin’s Three Body Problem trilogy. In this science-fiction saga, Cixin introduces readers to many concepts in theoretical physics and astrophysics, one of which is the trilogy’s namesake, the problem of solving the motion of three gravitationally interacting bodies. Cixin’s book lend me down many delightful Wikipedia rabbit-holes, thinking about the way gravity looms omnipresent in my life on this planet and the fantastical number of other kinds of gravitational circumstances besides Earth’s little g. It also seemed an apt way to think about the relationships in chamber music: mutual attraction of greater or lesser strength between musicians or musical materials, the downward fall of a musical line or phrase towards some resolution, the push and pull of intonation. Different gravities imagines a kind of musical planet-hopping: each movement lets musical relationships play out according to their unique “gravitational” circumstances. This piece is written with affection for Longleash Trio: Pala Garcia, John Popham, and Julia Den Boer.