Threads Strung Bare

ensemble solo violin
written fall 2025
duration 10-12 minutes

Commissioned by Clara Kim

Threads Strung Bare is a reflection on the unassuming significance of well-worn, frayed clothes. Growing up, I would wear the same shirts as long as I could, often to the point that their hems would come undone and their seams split apart. It wasn't any kind of fashion statement; quite the opposite, in fact. Many of these shirts were cheap memorabilia, given out at the start of a school year or at some youth event, and I saw them as little time capsules during years of rapid change among my friends and me. My family and I were always too sentimental to toss out my old clothes even after I had long outgrown them, and so my motley shirt collection has always made the same journeys across the globe that I have.

Musically, Threads Strung Bare is composed of two main ideas: a sparse, almost pointillistic soundworld filled with flared harmonics and wide leaps, and a warm, cyclical sequence of triads in the violin's lowest reaches. The two, initially separate, blend together, lush harmonies fraying away into spare harmonics and worn, distant tones accelerating into richly felt tapestries. The piece moves between these worlds, evoking the poignant nostalgia of gradually dissipating childhood memories.

All thanks to Clara for commissioning, recording, and helping revise the piece.