for saxophone quartet
~17 minutes
2009
When my grandmother passed away, part of the grieving process for our family was to look through her old photo albums. It was a strange experience. It’s a window into the past, and into lives, but the photos have to be interpreted. My grandmother was no longer there to interpret the photos and give background and meaning. As such one begins to wonder about the lives behind the photos. The same people keep reappearing: now happy, now sad; now young, now old. Old Photographs is a response to and expression of my feelings during that time.
Flipping through old photographs also influenced my form. The piece is divided into 13 short movements, each with a distinct character and with recurring themes transformed, just as the same people appear in different photographs transformed by the experiences of the moment.
Old Photographs is dedicated to my grandmother, Virginia Paul, 1918-2008.