Abandon This Maze, Return to Form

for percussion ensemble (8 players)

Commissioned by: Keller High School Percussion Ensemble (Keller, TX); Christian Turnley, assistant director

Work completed: March 2021

Duration: 4’30”

Difficulty: Intermediate-Advanced

As the COVID-19 pandemic began, I convinced myself I wouldn’t write a piece about it. It seemed like such an obvious idea that it’d instantly become worn out by the creative world at large. So, I instead spent a year exploring tangentially-related themes in music: the general darkness of 2020; the rise of digital media during isolation; the buzzing desire to make something of life; and so on.

Despite my best efforts, I’ve realized there’s a lot left to be said. I spent much of my time writing this piece in the same manner as I’ve lived for the past year: staring out the windows behind my computer, watching day and night bleed together, feeling separated from the world like a cabin in the woods. I’m now writing this note as we approach the end of it all, and I find myself asking broader questions: How are we going to bounce back from this? How will each of us approach our lives in a new light and rediscover ourselves? How far can hope take us (and to what extent should we remain wary)?

Abandon This Maze, Return to Form is a portrayal of these feelings. Beginning in a place of dense fog and blurriness, the piece gradually works through several attempts to take a more concrete hold on reality. Eventually, it succeeds and bursts forth with astonishing zeal.

It’s also a reflection on my own personal return-to-form, writing for my “home instrumentation” after a long time away, which was spent seeking to understand what I want out of music and art.

Premiered by the Fort Dorchester High School Percussion Ensemble (Matthew Kilby & Haley Cowan, directors) on February 9, 2024, at the SCMEA Conference (Columbia, SC)