Program Notes:

The political events in Israel, beginning in early '23, where an unprecedented ultra-right government has initiated attempts to dismantle democracy for the sake of "Money, Power & Respect," have plunged this young country into a severe existential crisis, unlike any it has faced externally before. This crisis erodes from within what visionary people have built with their own hands, as they strive to redeem themselves from the ruins of their own past.

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The ground there is shaking: politically, religiously, racially, socially, culturally — one feels that the ground is unstable, like quicksand. The music describes someone who was pushed into quicksand. After the first shock, comes a reflexive struggle with the muddy beast: deciphering unfamiliar laws of gravity, grasping at a branch, minimizing weight, moving cautiously... Yet the quicksand persists in its work — power runs out.

 

One can still hear and see the idyllic reality of the surrounding solid ground: birds are still singing, though perhaps these are already delusional tweets from some la-la-land? Or from another sphere? Still, there is hope to escape the quicksand, to win the battle. Some optimistic force pulls upward, while the quicksand pulls downward. A present reality confined to a small spot on the globe.

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Quicksand is dedicated to David Hoose and Frank Epstein. It was commissioned by Collage New Music's 50th Anniversary Commissioning Fund, generously supported by donations from Nick Anagnostis, Paul and Katie Buttonwieser, David Oswald, and John Carrey.

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L.N. August 2023

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