Onement

The concept for Onement for chamber ensemble arose out of a close collaboration with choreographer Erin Fleck and through the inspiration of Barnett Newman’s painting Onement I (1948). The music of Onement abstractly follows a narrative through its six-minute structure. The work depicts two worlds separated by a line that refracts the appearance of each world to the other, much like the orange line down the middle of Newman’s painting divides the solid chestnut red canvas in two. The concept of line is central to the construction of the musical work, seeking to use the interplay of musical lines and the notion of dominance to unite and divide the composition. Musically, the piece is divided into two sections that both arise from the same motivic and melodic material. Though the original material is the same, each section refracts these musical motifs in its own way.