Alluvium (2011) by Michelle Lou
for flute, clarinet, and cello
World premiere; Earplay/SF Foundation commission

Alluvium (from the Latin alluere, "to wash against") is made of once solid materials that have eroded and are carried along by running water. After much time, they may become solid again, only to acquiesce to weathering agencies, returning to sediment and moving on; this process as ad infinitum.

Accessing meaning or finding a foothold in composed sound is akin to this: a musical object may appear graspable and signification may seem apparent, but moving through time and context it becomes an ever-shifting object that appears only as temporally solid.