Caroline Shaw: Narrow Sea

Narrow Sea was written for So Percussion, Dawn Upshaw, and Gil Kalish in 2017. The piece combines my previous explorations of folk song with a sonic universe that includes ceramic bowls, humming, a piano played like a dulcimer by five people at once, and flower pots (which are the central focus of Taxidermy - my first piece for So Percussion, written in 2012). Gil Kalish's piano serves as a grounding force, or a familiar memory, that keeps reappearing amid the different textures introduced by So Percussion. And Dawn Upshaw's voice is a brilliant instrument that brings the words to life with warmth and directness.