Description

Ataraxia for solo horn (duration: 4′)

for Jonah Weber

Ataraxia is a short meditation for solo horn written as part of my project to take on “mini-commissions” for unaccompanied works during the spring and summer of 2020.

Ataraxia is a Greek term that originated in Ancient Greek philosophy to describe a state of serene calmness free from stress and worry. The journey towards ataraxia is depicted in this piece through the three cadenzas (“Searching”, “Finding”, and “Knowing”) as well as the changes to the tonal center—initially changing almost constantly, the shifts become less frequent as the piece moves forward towards tranquility.