Instrumentation: flute, viola, harp, percussion
First Performance: Premiered by the Columbia Composers ensemble, Mark Seto conducting. Merkin Hall, NYC, 30 March, 2005.
Dedicated to Ryan and Daniela Blum.
Duration: 9 minutes
One of my favorite places to visit is the Point Lobos State Reserve along the Monterey Coast, some two hours south of San Francisco. Unique to this area are the famous Monterey Cypresses, with their sinewy and strained roots and branches. This music seeks to reflect on the rugged beauty of these windswept trees, which continue to be sculpted by wind yet frozen in time. The work is also an indirect homage to two spiritually and aesthetically sympathetic composers, Debussy and Takemitsu. Their works for flute, viola, and harp - Debussy's Sonata and Takemitsu's And Then I Knew ‘Twas Wind - were constant sources of inspiration during the composition of this piece.
Windswept Cypresses is offered as a belated wedding gift to my friends Ryan and Daniela Blum, with much affection.
Anthony Cheung
March 2005