Some Notes From the Composition of Voices of Light

Yesterday, I reached for some scrap manuscript paper to write down some ideas for a new piece. I flipped the paper over and found myself staring at some lost notes I took at my first meeting in 1993 with the great gambaist Alice Robbins. We met to discuss gamba techniques because I was about to start composing Voices of Light. I wrote a solo and mini “gamba concerto” for her in the Pater Noster movement. I also incorporated three gambas into the Joan of Arc ensemble; they accompanied the sopranos and altos who sing excerpts from Joan’s letters. Alice is a wonderful musician and for this project she was very kind and patient with me.

Amazing how a simple piece of paper can jog so many joyous memories.