"Mother Water Ash"

"Mother Water Ash" by B.K.Zervigón

Performed by Mivos Quartet
Olivia De Prato, Violin
William Overcash, Violin
Victor Lowrie Tafoya, Viola
Nathan Watts, Cello

Titled after the Nicole Cooley's book of the same name.

The germ of this quartet came to me as a dream, born out of the imagery of Nicole Cooley and J. Bruce Fuller’s poetry. As described in the titles, I dreamt that I was boated out to an old oil rig near the edge of the continental shelf by a friend. We fished from the rig as massive, fantastical waves washed us and the surreal oceanscape away. After the flush of waves receded, we were left on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico- cross hatched by oil pipes and rotten sealife. In real life, these often leaky pipes are hidden under the water, out of sight and out of mind, connecting the oil rigs which pepper the Gulf. It is quite common to fish from oil rigs. Propaganda often refers to abandoned rigs as “artificial coral reefs.” This could be considered a literal program for the piece.

The music grasps at a distant, cherished memory. This memory is unsettled (perhaps even guilt tinged)- but you find comfort in its familiarity. It’s a desire for a place, a person, a state of being- maybe all of these things- that cannot be reached. Throughout the discourse, any hope of actually reaching this memory is erased, leaving one with a fading impression of something which was once tangible and objective.

Musically, I hope to express these feelings through a gradual transformation of a near purely melodic idea into a purely harmonic idea which continuously approaches but never reaches unison/octave. Finally, this directional process breaks into discrete sound blocks of pure timbre, rhythm, harmony and melody. Much of this drama is meant to replicate the mathematical phenomenon of approaching limits- something I find incredibly relevant to contemporary life.

I would like to extend a special thanks to Sounds of Now Vienna and the Mivos Quartet for their work in staging new music, creating educational opportunities and presenting this piece. I have been working on this piece for around two years now and am so thankful to have an opportunity to workshop it.