Circling Time
For piano solo (2018)
Length: 14 minutes (or 6 minutes*)
Written for Benjamin Hochman with a grant from Ramapo College of New Jersey
This performance (1st momvement)
Benjamin Hochman, piano
* Pulse - a stand-alone 6-minute version of the first movement; purchased separately below.
About the piece
A few years ago, an unpublished poem by Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai was discovered. Beginning with the words “And with severe pains…”, the untitled poem argues that there are two types of time: one that progresses, and one that repeats itself. Indeed, although life seems to move linearly from birth to death, it often seems as though our experiences have a way of repeating themselves. Challenges—and our emotional reactions to challenges—sometimes create the impression that nothing really changes and that we are faced with the same issues over and over again. Circling Time reflects these two notions of time. Although it outlines various moods, it features a single main theme that repeats over and over. The theme itself, while creating an impression of a continuous line, is structured of two repetitions of the same seven notes. Our physical body also reflects these two types of time: it changes as it ages over time, yet our basic vital signs – our breath and our heartbeat – repeat throughout our lives with little change. Likewise, throughout the piece from beginning to end, a steady pulse of G in the middle of the piano occurs without a stop. Only at the very end does the pulse halt: it is then replaced by a long, sustained note, suggesting the last heartbeat in one's life.
Selected Performances:
• Marlboro College (VT): Benjamin Hochman
• The Highlands Concert Series (Seattle, WA): Benjamin Hochman
• Kendal Hanover (NH): Benjamin Hochman
• Camphill Ghent (NY): Benjamin Hochman
• Goucher College (MD): Benjamin Hochman
• The Seattle Series (WA, USA): Benjamin Hochman
