Coronation Riot (2026)

for thirteen instruments

Duration: 14 min

Instrumentation

Fl (+picc), Ob (+c.a.), Cl, A. Sax, Hrn, Pno, Hrp, Perc (2), Vln I, Vln II, Vla, Vcl

Program Note

Coronation Riot remembers music from the past - but only imperfectly. It misremembers, distorts, fills in the gaps with faulty information, and projects the present onto what once was. Musical traditions and melodies from the thirteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth centuries find their way into the same piece, all denatured by contemporary microtonal harmonies.

Coronation Riot, with its willful misrepresentation of the past, is music for a time we have found ourselves in: a time where our country has chosen to unearth nearly-buried, abhorrent beliefs, where the most influential political slogan fantasizes about a “great” past that never existed, pretending life was simpler and better when more people had less - less equality, freedom, autonomy, and empathy. It is music for a time when fear and hate have misled us to bring back kings.

Yet within Coronation Riot is a message of hope. In this anachronistic coronation ceremony, a troubadour performs for the festivities. I wrote the melody of the troubadour song, picturing, if this melody had words, that it secretly contained a subversive message of freedom and democracy. As the piece continues, the instruments can’t seem to forget the troubadour’s song, and the message it contains not only spreads to the entire ensemble, but ultimately brings about the breakdown of the coronation ceremony itself.

Performances

Premiere Performance: (3/6/2026) Grossman Ensemble; David Bloom, cond; Logan Center for the Arts, Chicago, IL