Khronos

From Wind Repertory Project
Da’Kneisha Nikoyle Blount
Justin Noel Hall


Da’Kneisha Nikoyle Blount
Justin Noel Hall
(Collectively writing as Nikoyle Noel)


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Subtitle: For Soprano and Wind Ensemble
This work bears the designation Opus 4.


General Info

Year: 2022
Duration: c. 19:00
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Nikoyle Noel
Cost: Score and Parts; (digital) - $200.00


Movements (some movements played without pause)

1. Heart Aflutter - 2:28
2. Chaos - 2:48
3. Carpe Diem - 5:27
4. Nothing, but Time (Somewhere) - 2:35
5. There’s So Much In-Between
6. Time is Ever-Fleeting
7. Ascension - 4:45


Instrumentation

Full Score
Solo Soprano Voice
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon
Contrabassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Piano
Timpani
Percussion (6 players)

(percussion detail desired)

Players clapping and chanting.


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

Khronos was written by the duo Nikoyle Noel, made up of Da’Kneisha Nikoyle Blount and Justin Noel Hall.

The idea for Khronos came to Da’Kneisha and Justin during a conversation they had after meeting with Dr. Timothy Shade about commissioning a new piece. Their first thought was, “What do we want to say?” It was then they decided they would write a piece that illustrates these moments of the human experience, all through the lens of time. Khronos reflects on seven different facets of the human condition through the lens of time; butterflies from love, envy of “The Joneses,” stagnation, and aging being a few of those themes.

The first movement, Heart Aflutter, is about Justin’s experience with getting butterflies while walking into a downtown restaurant and becoming both nervous and smitten with a young man serving gelato. He was so anxious that he didn’t know how to say hello. It wasn’t until after conferring with his friends, that he mustered up the courage to walk back to the gelato guy and ask him out on a date. The guy did not walk to the same beat, and disappointment fell over Justin, but at least he had those butterflies to remember him by.

Chaos is all about the rat race of life. Today, we live in a capitalist society which doesn’t allow for much respite or ease, but a “buy, buy, buy” and “hustle harder” mentality that keeps everyone on their feet, more literally than metaphorically, it seems. The hemiola in the bass, syncopated horn and percussion, and ever-changing time signature and key centers portray the ever-changing “algorithm” of our tech-centric world amidst a lonely soul (the flute) trying to make sense of how to fit into such a exponentially growing digital space amidst the analog world.

Next, Carpe Diem is literally about seizing the day. This movement portrays time specifically as a woman. We all want a piece of her, we all want more of her, and yet she’s always out of our reach: a seductress bending us to her will.

Nothing, but Time (Somewhere) is a movement dedicated to their friend Renee Macdonald. Upon moving to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she contacted Da’Kneisha and Justin about writing a piece for her to perform at her going-away recital in Wichita, Kansas. The piece illustrates the journey of cherishing your time spent with the friends you meet in life, but ultimately deciding to listen to your calling, which sometimes is geographically apart from where you may be now. Near the end, Da’Kneisha writes, “My time has come; I must move on; there’s so much more. Please know my love will linger on engraved in time.” This movement is a cyclical love letter, from Da’Kneisha and Justin to Renee, and vice versa.

There’s So Much In-Between is about not rushing through life. After we’ve found our calling, is there a reprogramming that needs to happen with the lifestyle we’ve grown accustomed to, especially if the existence you’ve had prior to a life-altering experience has now become stagnant, regressive, and leading to a life unfulfilled? There’s so much in between, but we rarely take the time to see it.

Nearing the end, Time Is Ever-Fleeting is a movement that illustrates the life expectancy of the average American person. After 30,000 sunsets, how do we comprehend time ticking away our last moments? And when we’ve spent these seemingly countless revolutions around the sun living, what all was it for?

Lastly, Ascension is the homegoing. In Black churches, it’s customary to use the phrase “homegoing celebration” for a person’s funeral service because it refers to the deceased “going back home” and it’s also a celebration of the soul returning to eternal glory. Their hope for the final movement was to embody the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Well done!”

- Program Note by composers


Media

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State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

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Works for Winds by This Composer


Resources