I Come from Water – Piano Trio

Instrumentation: Violin, Cello and Piano, (with brief Bass Drum)

Duration: 6:15

Much of the music in I Come from Water is intended to evoke impressions of existence in the element of water. The piece is meant to explore and celebrate a communal universe that humans only glimpse in isolated visits. Images, sensations and sounds of water life are expressed throughout the piece as salmon smolts make their way from streams to rivers to the ocean.
The piece was inspired by news that the US was planning to perform missile tests in the Pacific Ocean near the Hawaiian island of Kauai. Scientific research speculates that these tests could be harmful to water creatures over a large area surrounding the testing sites. In particular, scientists are concerned the tests may cause dolphins and whales–who communicate and orient themselves through sound waves–to become permanently deaf.
In I Come from Water, the music eventually arrives at a period of quiet communion when the salmon reach the ocean. This calm is interrupted by three explosions, heard here in the Bass Drum. The water creatures respond with panic, followed by mute silence. The final section is intended to express grieving.