Opus 706
The Doors in the Sky (2007)
for Violin
Piotr Szewczyk, violin
Duration: 3.5 min.
Dedication: for Piotr Szewczyk
Commission: Commissioned by Piotr Szewczyk
Publisher: Musik Fabrik
Performance materials available from the publisher.
The Doors in the Sky (2007) for violin commissioned by and is dedicated to violinist Piotr Szewczyk. It was written as a part of his ViolinFutura commissioning project. The mission of the project seeks to commission pieces connected to the deep historical traditions of solo violin literature. The work takes its inspiration thus from these historical works and also from a brief poem by American poet Elizabeth Kirschner.
The work begins with slow, melodic music in firm tonality. A fast, dancing section emerges and becomes gradually wilder—abandoning its tonal grounding through chromatic alternation. After this fast music stops, the initial slow music returns to conclude the piece, with darker interjections now inserted into the tonal texture before ending in quiet repose.
The Doors in the Sky
May you indwell in your dwelling
as though it were a birdcage holding
heaven’s sunflowers and may your wishes
sing back to you as if they had been granted.
Listen, there’s a voice that says: thrive now
in flying light that catches you while you fall
into dreams so evocative they open the doors
in the sky where someone, someone is
watching over you.
— Elizabeth Kirschner, 2006