flute, clarinet, tenor saxophone, elec. guitar, elec. bass, cello, piano, drum set - 11’

Score - 8.5 x 11 / Parts - 8.5 x 11

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When I was a kid, there was a short period of time that I thought I had some form of x-ray vision because I could see through my hands sometimes. I don’t remember exactly when, but I was later told that I have a lazy eye. Much to my disappointment, it turned out that I did not have any super powers after all. A few years after this discovery, I had eye surgery in 6th grade to fix the issue, which left me with a huge black eye and a piercing headache for two or three weeks. Ultimately the surgery did not fix my problem, but it did alleviate it to some extent.When looking into my eye problem years later, I discovered that what I have is not a lazy eye (or amblyopia) after all, but in fact called strabismus. This can lead to amblyopia if not treated, but is different. Strabismus is a condition where some of the eye muscles may be weak and both eyes do not look at the same place at the same time. It is highly common in people who are very farsighted like I am, and is at its worst after doing large amounts of close work like reading or composing.

How does all of this eye talk relate to the music? In Strabismus, I hope to bring the sonic texture in and out of focus as if the eye muscles are periodically getting tired. There is a substantial section during which the original melody is taken apart and blurred into a hazy and gritty texture full of multiphonics from the flute, clarinet, and saxophone, and scratchy pulses from the cello. And all eye talk aside, NakedEye Ensemble’s exciting instrumentation beckoned me to allow my rock and jazz influences to shine through. 

Strabismus was commissioned by NakedEye Ensemble and composed during the summer of 2016.