The Two Faces of the Moon

Percussion Duo

I have always been fascinated with the moon. The inconsistency of the cycle of waxing and waning combined with the consistency of the moon always presenting the same “face” to Earth is a fascinating juxtaposition. This contrast is furthered by the moon being related to the feminine through mythology and being related to the masculine through the idea of “the man in the moon,” stemming from the pareidolic images people see on the moon’s surface. These contradictions are at the core of this work.

The slow, solemn marimba chorales are meant to imitate the side of the moon that faces Earth – the stoic, yearning “face” we see. The rest of the work, consisting of aggressive, driving, moto perpetuo sections, is my personal imagining of the other “face” of the moon. This mystical “face” is animated and aggressive, both contrasting and complementing the “face” we know so well.

Commissioned by Lindley Farha and Abby Baker