Immortal

Listen to the work here!
 
Immortal is a work for vibraphone and marimba, part of an ongoing series entitled M+1. This is a series of mixed duets featuring the marimba, alongside a variety of woodwind, brass, string, percussion, and other instruments. Thirty-six duets have been planned out, of which Immortal is the fourth, and these duets, following from the letter-and-number-infused title of the series, begin with letters or numbers covering the alphabet and Arabic numerals (A-Z, 0-9) once each.
 
Immortal explores the positive and negative, as well as indulgent and despondent, associations with the concept of immortality that has arisen in many of the world’s cultures throughout history. Immortality has at times been alternatively portrayed as freedom from the terror of death, the substitute terror of grappling with the impermanence of people and places one loves, a pensive and reserved look back through the annals of history, and even perhaps an opportunity to rest for those who feel denied such repose in their daily lives. The varying emotional characters of the piece paint a nuanced image of immortality. One sentence in particular which informs this message, which I don’t remember the origin of if indeed I did subconsciously pick it up from an existing piece of media, is: “I don’t want to live forever if I have to live alone.” As a social butterfly with a fear of death, this concept is one I ponder often.