I wrote Filtered Light on a commission from Music in the American Wild, which set out to celebrate the centenary of the National Parks Service by commissioning several composers to write for flute, clarinet, horn, percussion, violin, viola, and cello and then perform these commissioned works outdoors in national parks around the U.S.
When beginning the process of writing this piece, I set the intention of meditating on nature and then allowing these meditations to inform my writing. As a resident of NYC at the time, I reflected particularly on how nature intersects with the city. Parks in NYC are for me incredibly important. I imagine these parks as providing much-needed oxygen to city dwellers, and they connect us to the softer parts of our humanity within the harder concrete edges that greet us as sidewalks, skyscrapers, and zooming traffic. Sometimes, standing in Central Park, I look out at the city and am astounded at how (manmade) nature gives way over one sharp line to streets and high-rises.
The differents musics in this piece reflect this dichotomy. The opening texture is like sunlight dancing on leaves, while the more aggressive, rhythmic music is an urban dance.