January and the Healer

Listen to the work here!
 
January and the Healer is a meditative work for a solo unaccompanied soprano, with range C4-C6. This work is inspired by, and was written as a gift for, a wonderful friend of mine, whose friendship means a great deal to me. This friend celebrates her birthday in January, and I’ve always found myself in the first month of the year with a mix of emotions. January can be a time of renewal and peace, and I’ve often found myself looking upon a new year as a sort of clean slate. On the other hand, sometimes human-created segmentations in time, such as the passing of each New Year that this first month signifies, serve as a lens that magnifies how much life has changed since the last New Year. In this way, January also serves as a month which signifies and magnifies change, and noticing this change has not always been a pleasant experience.
 
I have spent several years experiencing a confluence of important changes in my life, and on multiple occasions I have found myself in low places. When I first met the friend to whom this work is dedicated, what I did not foresee is how much our friendship would mean to me in these low places. I have never been through a difficult period of my life and not found her reaching a metaphorical hand out to help me reset. Hers is truly one of the most healing friendships I have ever known, and whenever I am in need of respite, she is always there. My hope is that through this work, which takes the form of a series of meditative phrases with little strict motivic development, I can represent the emotional character of the work’s dedicatee and our friendship, in an attempt to repay some of the kindness I have been blessed with since knowing her.