Sunset Shapes
Sunset Shapes is a unique musical collaboration with artist Ian Fink, featuring bass clarinet, soprano saxophone, and Chinese meditation chimes. This piece draws its inspiration from Fink’s painting “Houses,” known for its surrealistic portrayal of three-dimensional shapes and a captivating sky, which I envisioned as a sunset. The painting’s vivid imagery sparked a bass clarinet line in my mind, leading to the birth of this composition.
Influenced partly by Eric Dolphy’s Hat and Beard, the structure of Sunset Shapes is intriguingly unconventional, with every alternate repetition of the form extending by an additional measure. Different segments of the music are reflections of various elements within the painting, creating a rich tapestry of sound that mirrors the visual complexity of Fink’s work.
The world première of Sunset Shapes took place at the SFCCO virtual concert on November 13, 2021. It was also well-received during its showcase at an art and music event hosted by MENSA later in the same month.
Tags: bass clarinet, MENSA, saxophone