my soul is tied to you (2024) for chamber strings

“So here, I stand on a bended knee

I offer my heart eternally.

In the dance of sorry and love anew,

Forever, I’m sorry, I picked my soul to tie to you.”

Makenzie Wishart, 2024

This piece was based around a poem written by a good friend, Makenzie Wishart. She has this talent and ability to absolutely drag you into her world with her words, bring you down for the lows and let you soar with her highs. I read this poem late on a Friday night, and the majority of this piece was written that night. The idea of being so deeply in love with someone and being tied to their soul but knowing you could never say anything is a topic, although discussed frequently, with the way Makenzie writes, she shined a completely new perspective on it for me with her words. The opening motif of the forte-piano crescendo was taken from Shostakovich’s 15th string quartet, one he wrote very close to his death. To my understanding that was used to symbolize the pain he was in, so I used it as well in a similar effect to symbolize the pain of a love that will never happen, like a stabbing of the heart. This piece could mean many things to different people, and I like that idea, therefore I will not provide many rehearsal notes other than observe the dynamics closely.