Dark Forest

Concerto for Cello and Orchestra

I began writing Dark Forest on January 14, 2024. I’ll document it as it progresses. I’ve been reflecting on the role of the concerto (I may have a blog post for this later) and I think that recent attempts at the form have been problematic.

“Virtuosity” at the highest level equates to “difficulty” in the minds of recent composers, but a general audience can’t begin to understand the difficulties inherent in executing contemporary techniques well (e.g. hitting difficult harmonics, playing in quarter or third tones, etc.). I think it is to the detriment of the performer and the piece for the virtuosity to be invisible to the audience, so my goal is to put virtuosity on display, front and center.

I quickly realized (see the sketches) that I wanted the cello to have a low Bb instead of a low C. This opening cadenza (section without an orchestra playing) features octatonic scales at the beginning (an 8-note scale favored by Bartok that uses alternating half-step / whole-step). You’ll also definitely hear that the second page builds on techniques I used in my Postlude for Solo Cello, which uses the same tuning (on YT, here).

 Update 3:

August 12, 2025

I did some work to start in on the 2nd movement. I’m now thinking of this as a 3-movement piece (a standard format for solo cello works). Typically the 2nd movement is slow and I’m setting out to write something beautiful.

I did a basic, tonal theme in 6/4 taken as an expansion of the opening idea of movement one. It’s straight up B-Minor. Below, you can see the sketch (letter A). Then I did a quick analysis of the Elgar Cello Concerto main theme. I started to do a Schenkerian Analysis of it and decided to share that on a separate page (see 2nd photo).

I wrote two variations on my original theme having done the quick Elgar analysis. B and C.

Then, I did 3 different rhythmic structures. The first simple and what I imagine (A, 2nd time in rhythm). The second was more complicated with some rhythmic games within it (B). And the third I tried to do a very typical “classical” approach to the rhythms, using concise and clear elements (C).

Update 2:

 August 5, 2025

I skipped some updates as I’ve dabbled with it here or there. But it is now one almost-complete movement with the early drafts of Movement II:

I found an expansion of a riff that I really liked and added it. It’s a full Moto Perpetuo riff that keeps getting disrupted until finally it ends up on some high notes. I like the gestures up in the high notes but think it needs some flourishes or something like that.

Understanding now that the Moto Perpetuo I just wrote will be the basis of a Chaccone in Movement 2, I also know that I need to incorporate some of the sounds earlier into the piece. I have changed the top notes of a couple of the arpeggiated chords on pages 1 and 2.

I still haven’t decided about the bridge into the Moto Perpetuo section. I really like this one crazy idea with my left pointer finger doing windshield-wiper-style pizzicato on two strings (taken from the way I play Luciano Berio’s Sequenza XIV) and putting it onto some natural harmonics, but I’m not sure how to get out of it. I believe that’s the only thing I have remaining with this movement.

I’m anticipating that it’s a three-movement solo cello piece and then I’ll expand it into a work for cello and orchestra. That’s my current thinking. The piece started with the idea for a virtuosic concerto, then morphed into a solo piece, and now it’s back to a concerto again haha.

We’ll see what happens… Here it is now.

Update 1 - February 6, 2024

 Pages 3 and 4, swerve to unaccompanied cello piece

I did some sketching last week and then today wrote a few more pages. I think that this should probably be a solo cello piece, though I sketched orchestral fragments as well. I might use this as the basis of the cello concerto, but I started playing it and realized I’d like to perform it regularly… tough to do when you need a whole orch to back you up

I finally found a path to recall m. 11’s bird calls, which is where I ended the material.

I know I’ll have to reconfigure the unexpected groove section on page 3 with the low Bb’s. It becomes “too predictable” which is what a groove is, but since I’m going to pick up a more interesting groove right where I left off at the bottom of page 4, I’ll write that one, then head backwards and re-think how long page 3’s should be.

Haven’t bothered to add dynamics or change the slurs to the correct version at the top of page 3, but all of that was clear when I wrote it so it’s clear in my head. I’ll proof later. I also think I’ll take out the redundant line at 68. And I suspect I may truncate that recap even more.

I like that 61 recapitulates the opening but with the end of the groove material in place of the chords. I’ve been wondering if the pitch material from those chords should become the basis of the next section…

I think I know where it should head from here and I’m planning to take inspiration from Nicholas Deyoe’s Still Getting Rid Of (Audio of premiere) which we premiered with La Jolla Symphony in, gosh, 2011… and also from the last section of Michael Gordon’s Industry (YT, Ashley Bathgate). I may use increasingly high harmonics on A and D for the chords’ pitch content (but played in their more piercing range close to the top of the string instead of their mirror image, nicer-sounding range at the bottom of the string), or I may use those opening chords like I mentioned.

Which means that likely I will go back and re-do the pitch material of those opening chords, so I’m not getting super attached to them and frankly think one or two things about them are weird. I had thoughts of pulling in the high A to high C in m. 7 but haven’t yet, so the range just feels arbitrarily wide. Maybe m. 12 is more impactful if that’s the first time we’ve heard something higher up, setting us up for the harmonics to be even higher in 13.

Then, at the end of the new, more aggressive groove I’ll go into this harmonic pizz technique on the top two strings shown at the bottom of page 4 (from the… unique… way I play the Berio Sequenza) and I’ll have Sleep Token-inspired col legno rhythmic stuff on the bottom two strings.

My intention is not to overthink the rhythmic stuff or the aggressive chords. And then to go back and formally study Gerard Grisey’s Vortex Temporum (YT, pretty good performance), making my first round of official edits at that point.

A few intentional deletions from the score, but more or less the tune starting at m. 13 (from page 2, below)

 January 14-18, 2024

The three pages of sketches so far, Jan 14, 15 and 16, including a quick “Schenkerian Analysis” (after the theorist Heinrich Schenker) of the famous Cello Concerto theme by Edward Elgar. Notes to myself of pieces to study. Notes to myself about framing the piece. And a number of little sketches that don’t appear in the final version, above.

Quick recording, Jan 16, based on the third page, above.
You’ll notice it doesn’t line up exactly with the final sheet music, below, because I made a few edits afterwards.

The opening cadenza ended up like this: