| Movements/SectionsMov'ts/Sec's | 4 |
|---|---|
| Composition Year | 2004 |
| Genre Categories | Pieces; For piano; Scores featuring the piano; For 1 player |
| Work Title | Scent of the World We Gave Up |
|---|---|
| Alternative. Title | |
| Composer | Bitensky, Laurence Scott |
| I-Catalogue NumberI-Cat. No. | ILB 15 |
| Movements/SectionsMov'ts/Sec's | 4 |
| Year/Date of CompositionY/D of Comp. | 2004 |
| First Performance. | Elizabeth Wolfe, Centre College, 3/4/07 |
| First Publication. | 2004 Silly Black Dog Music |
| Average DurationAvg. Duration | 6' |
| Composer Time PeriodComp. Period | Modern |
| Piece Style | Modern |
| Instrumentation | Solo Piano |
Distinguished Finalist, Jabez Press 2005 Composition Invitational
1. “scent of the world we gave up”; 2. “out of somewhere we have forgotten”; 3. “we wake into dreams of you”, 4. “in the fragrance of the morning”
Scent of the World We Gave Up is a small set of miniatures and an homage to one of my favorite composers, Claude Debussy. It is Debussy-esque both in its harmonies and mood, and in that it was inspired by the very impressionistic image of light on water. In this case, the water is the very un-Impressionistic Hudson River. In the summer of 2004 I spent a month house-sitting in a beautiful upper west side apartment overlooking the Hudson. For three weeks the sky was a relentless gray, and the light on the water suggested a mood that translated well into the chords I was playing on the piano at the time. The piece is a humble attempt to capture the lonesome, nostalgic and wistful mood evoked by this atmosphere. The movement titles are taken from the 2003 poem “To Smoke” by W.S. Merwin.
