Through the Window
2026
Soprano - Piano
45 minutes
-
Written during a period of intense emotional turmoil in early 2025, Through the Window is a song cycle that reflects in part on the political and social turbulence of the time, and in part on memories and feelings of distance and despair that this turbulence evokes.
Two of the songs (“In Music I Reveled” and “Through the Window”) were premiered by Micaela Aldridge Singh and Dr. Karina Bruk in spring of 2025.
-
November 1, 2026
Schare Recital Hall, Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ)Susana Leiva: Voice
Julian Jensen: Piano -
In Music I Reveled
From Darkness We Rise
To Dark Days Past
River of Failing Hearts
The Bitter Decay of Time
Through the Window
In the Wake of Pain
Winter’s Ocean
Separate Ways
In Lies Love Dies
-
Through the Window is a cycle of songs that, lyrically, is intended to explore some of the darkest realms of human emotion. Threaded throughout the songs are themes of depression and despair - yet all the while acknowledging that there is nonetheless hope to be found, however little there may seem to be at the time.
Written in the winter and spring of 2025, some of the songs - such as “From Darkness We Rise” - are rife with anger at the world and the current climate of oppression so many people are now facing. Others, like “In Music I Reveled”, are an ode to days of youth, wasted on misery and loneliness in a world that seemed to have turned its back.
Strong inspiration is drawn from rock and metal genres, with specific influences including later Anathema, with songs like “To Dark Days Past” paying homage to the rapid guitar patterns that are a hallmark of their style.
Through the Window is ultimately a tribute to prog-rock albums and the dark lyrics found so often in rock and metal, as well as a nod to song cycles of the classical tradition.
-
