Year composed: 2021
Duration: 3′
Instrumentation: solo violin
Commissioned by Dan Flanagan
Premiered at the National Opera Center, New York City 10/3/2022
Performed at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie, New York City, 3/25/24
Interview with Dan Flanagan for Vents Magazine (November 1, 2023)
Notes:
Into the Light was commissioned by Daniel Flanagan, as part of a series inspired by paintings in his personal collection. My piece responded to a small 8×8 painting by San Francisco artist Victoria Veedell. I loved how the dark blue and purplish hues in this work dissolve into the far light-filled opening water passage; it seemed to hold an indefinite out-of-time character that I found rather wistful and elegiac. To complement the character of the painting I used several special bowing techniques—bowing near the bridge of the violin, bowing precisely on the bridge, bowing high on the fingerboard, and bowing with a diagonal motion with a very light, flautando pressure. Into the Light is gratefully dedicated to Flanagan.
–Cindy Cox
Reviews
“Where will the light lead us, take us (perhaps illuminating “Shadow Breaking”, above). A singular, mostly melodic line (before a wee ritornello literally moves us to the conclusion). Much to say, in a brief span of time, for those who choose to hear.”
“the fragile hush of Cindy Cox’s Into the Light likewise captures the calm of the landscape in Victoria Veedell’s same-titled painting.”
Dan Flanagan — “The Bow and the Brush” (MSR Classics, 2023)