these (were) used to harm is a work written for my close friends in Latitude 49, an ensemble sextet dedicated to championing works of living composers.
The work draws inspirations from noise and death metal genres as it reflects on a July 4, 2016 New Yorker article written by Alex Ross entitled "When Music is Violence". Within this article, Ross cites instances where music and sound were used as a means of torture or as a weapon of war, naming the specific songs used in some cases.
these (were) used to harm makes use of those songs mentioned in the article as a means of source material and inspiration for some of the electronic sounds and themes heard throughout the piece.
The second half of the work is a series of variations on a theme composed by Brian Riordan in his work for piano, voice, and electronics, “while the earth is still turning”, premiered by my friend and pianist Sonya Belaya. In creating the variants in my piece, I offer my deepest gratitude and appreciation of their work and the strong meaning of the piece they created together.
Composed in the summer of 2017, this work is scored for mixed sextet and live electronics and was and premiered at the Toledo Museum of Art's GlasSalon on October 22, 2017.