Program Note

The human heart plays a profound role in the way that many of us talk about the human experience. We use phrases like “broken hearted,” “heartache,” and “take heart” without truly thinking of the organ that beats in our chests as being literally broken, aching, or taken. At Heart is a comment on some of the physical symptoms that can affect the heart: I. Tachycardia (a heart that beats too fast), II. Arrhythmia (a heart that beats unsteadily), and III. Bradycardia (a heart that beats too slowly). My hope is that these three movements also speak to human experiences that relate in kind to these physical conditions. At Heart was commissioned through a consortium organized by Moose Davis, and is dedicated to all of the members that made the piece possible.