Simple Gifts

The First Law of Thermodynamics states that energy cannot be created or destroyed - it simply transforms. I think creativity works the same way. Creativity doesn't come from a blank slate; rather, experiences go into your brain, they mix and mash with the other things in there, and then they come out transformed.

The combination of Brackett's Simple Gifts and Couperin's Les Barricades Mystérieuses was a result of this subconscious process. I had been in love with Les Barricades for months, and it had been swimming around in my brain, waiting for the right time to express itself.

While Simple Gifts is a calm...simple...piece, superimposing it over Les Barricades gave it a wider harmonic palate, a sweetly melancholic feel, and a flowing rhythmic motion.

This 2017 recording of Palaver Strings was taken at WGBH Boston's Fraser Performance Studio and is available on their new album, Simple Gifts.