tear (2022)

for flute, viola, and harp
by David Carlton Adams

In late February, 2022, Putin directed his military to invade Ukraine, a move that has wreaked horrors told and untold upon millions.

My wife is Ukranian-Russian-American. She was born in the Soviet Union in what is now a former soviet state, lived in Moscow until she was 10, and emigrated from Russia to the United States with her parents, who still feel Russian.

All this to say: it’s been a difficult year for my wife and her family.

This piece explores the internal rending that all who have identified as Ukrainian or Russian, in whole or in part, have experienced in the intervening months. While this internal violence is nothing compared to the physical atrocities experienced by those in the war zone, the ripping apart of one’s identity is more than sufficient to generate complex feelings of betrayal and mourning.

MOSTLY MODERN ENSEMBLE
Elma Meijer, flute
Sabien Canton, harp
Michelle Pritchard, viola
Robert Paterson, conductor

Musical Work ©2022 David Carlton Adams, All Rights Res.