A Dark Matter (2022) for alto flute, oboe, clarinet and piano

Composer: Gilad Cohen

Performance: Exponential Ensemble

Anna Urrey, alto flute

Kemp Jernigan, oboe

Pascal Archer, clarinet in A

Amir Farid, piano

Dark matter is one of the most elusive phenomena in the world. While Physicists estimate that dark matter accounts for 85% of the matter in the universe, it has not been proved yet that it actually exists. I find it fascinating that a concept that may have such a foundational role in the construction of the universe remains that mysterious as of today. The piece “A Dark Matter” explores the notion that our mind also sometimes circles around an intangible “dark matter.” An indefinable worry, regret, or fear can occupy us for a long time and color everything else in dark shades. At the core of this piece is such musical “dark matter.” The first three movements begin almost identically with a claustrophobic web of three melodic threads that crawl, tangle and repeat without any sense of resolution. In each movement, a different one of these threads develops into its own small melancholic universe. In the fourth and last movement, out of the gloom grows a simple melody in the alto flute that offers some hope and comfort, despite the return of the “dark matter” threads at the very end of the piece.