Program Notes

The Pitch Black Basement is a play on A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein, which while similar in writing style, tells a completely separate story. The Pitch Black Basement is formatted as Intro, A, B, C, A´, C´, and B´ and follows the story of a protagonist going down into their basement void of any windows to grab something they need. The lights cut out leaving this person in complete and total darkness. This person tiptoes around trying to not run into something over but occasionally knows over a box or two. They begin to feel that something is off and although they hear and see nothing have a feeling of impending doom. Eventually they start to hear noises as if something is crawling around and in panic knock over a couple items causing a ruckus. This protagonist starts to tiptoe once again being extra careful as to not alert the potential intruder. Getting more and more lost in their basement they notice a red glow in the distance and as it gets closer put together that it is a pair of eyes and scramble away knocking over all sorts of glass and metal objects. The piece ends with the protagonist running towards the door being chased full speed by this creature eventually making their way to the entry and slamming the door shut finding themselves in safety (or not). I wanted to mix styles focusing on the loud and aggressive metal band sound I have become so fond of, with a dramatic cinematic style that emphasizes the dire situation at hand. These along with an aleatoric section to set the scene and provide imagery in the listeners mind of the story being told.