Oublier (To Forget) – mvts I & II

​"Oublier (to forget)" was originally written with the idea of combining the dense harmonic language of Poulenc, Milhaud, and Ravel with modern compositional techniques inspired by the work of Sylvano Busotti, Abbie Bettinis, and fellow C3LA composers. During this time, I was also listening to a lot of downtempo 90s R&B, particularly Jodeci, Erykah Badu, Groove Theory, and Brown Sugar era D’Angelo, and I have been deeply inspired by these artists’ use of melody, embellishment, and extended voicing, creating an air of sensuality and tenderness in all of their work. With this goal in mind, I decided to adapt three poems from Apollinaire's Alcools, since I felt that the vivid, surreal imagery would serve the sound­world I was aiming to produce. Yet, I was also drawn to these poems because of their narratives surrounding the relationship between love, loss, and memory. ​