...And the Tire Swing Keeps Spinning... [Study Score]

“…And the Tire Swing Keeps Spinning…” was written in fulfillment of the BMI Foundation 2014 Manny Albam Commission as part of the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop.

“…And the Tire Swing Keeps Spinning…” is a piece deeply inspired by personal experience with depression and mental illness. The metaphor of a tire swing representing depression comes from a time in elementary school (around 1st or 2nd grade) when my best friend and I took turns pushing each other on the tire swing. Whoever was doing the pushing/spinning would make up some story designed to transport you somewhere else, and the person inside the swing would experience, in combination with the dizziness and the immersive story, a disconnect from the present, as if reality has fallen away and the only thing that exists is the imagination. Depression can be like that too- one thought or trigger can start swirling you into a hole, until all that exists is a sense of terror and the belief that the only reality is in your dark mind. The piece is a transformation of innocence that is increasingly disorienting, landing in a dark abyss, eventually rising into rage, and finally ending in dissociation.

The piece is developed from a 12 tone row that is introduced immediately in the right hand of the piano. This 12 tone row is the one consistent aspect of the composition, whether it is chiming like bells above sparse accompaniment (as in the beginning), transformed into a chord progression, lurking subtly in the low instruments, or being used as an aggressive ostinato. The row is consistent; it’s the use of the row, harmony, textures and rhythm that transform the character over time.

This is a study score only (PDF format). For complete score and parts, go to the “Scores and Parts” section of the store. Once you download the file for the first time, you will have an additional 24 hours to access it.