Description

• Composer: Jessica Hunt (1987-)
• Format: Score & Set of Parts
• Instrumentation: String Quartet (Violin I, Violin II, Viola, Cello)
• Work: And So I Looked To The River (2018)
• Binding:
• Size: 8.9 x 12.0 inches
• Pages: 10

Description

And So I Looked to the River, Jessica Hunt (2018) 7′ for string quartet

The Columbia River wends a meandering path alongside the Cascade Mountains until it slices West through the gorge dividing northern Oregon from southern Washington. I grew up near this river, and found solace in my inner thoughts whenever I could leave the urban bustle of the Portland metro area behind and drive through those-sharp cliffs, the spray from many waterfalls misting my windshield. Fifteen years later, struggling to maintain a sense of hope and identity in the bleak global landscape of 2018, I find myself dipping my toes into the practice of secular meditation. I close my eyes and I am surrounded by the force of water. I swim to the bank of the River, look out across the ever-shifting gray-and-white force, and breathe. The River is made of my thoughts, and I remove myself from them; I find my place of peace when I look to the River, when I stand on the high cliff high above without being swept away within its beautiful, chaotic power. I acknowledge the thoughts of the River flowing past; I see them and I breathe.