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Program Notes:
“At the birth of love, there is no decision to be made:
Spontaneously it arises, as if it had always been there.
But for love to endure, a decision must be made:
The decision to sacrifice oneself for one’s beloved.
So it is with the one who follows the Way out of love,
Who seeks to become one with Him.
The decision is not to love, but to sacrifice;
And sacrifice is the evidence and confirmation of love.”
-Hieromonk Damascene in Christ the Eternal Tao
'Pain of heart...is the way to perfection' was the first thing written for this piece, and it is a quotation from a book called 'Christ the Eternal Tao.' I was struck by the poetry within the book and it ended up throwing me into deep spiritual reflection.
At the genesis of this piece, the ultimate goal was to end my senior recital with a piece where I would be on stage with the cello studio next to my good friend and cellist Danny .
However, as the compositional process continued, the piece became a descriptive of my journey of my time in college, being unknown and lost at the beginning, eventually finding my footing, all to inevitably have the climax cut short.
The piece ends twice, with the first ending being an uncomfortably held on to chord played by the cellists on stage. This ending signifies a desire to hold onto those memories and to those moments as fleeting as they are. The second ending is that of an interruption, the held out chord is interrupted by offstage chimes that ring the Greek melody of the Paschal Troparion: 'Christ is Risen!' The significance of these chimes, I will leave up to whomever hears them.
-Christopher Hall (2026)
To listen to the piece, click the poster!
Pain of Heart Score 4-9-26.pdfPage updated
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