for ensemble and electronics (2018)

Inspired by the Zen proverb ‘let go or be dragged,’ the piece invites the listener to let go of the expectation to pay attention, providing an ambient backdrop for whatever thoughts spontaneously arise in the act of listening.

The title references a genre of Youtube video that uses music to aid or induce certain moods or states of mind: ‘Binaural Music to Help You Sleep,’ ‘lofi beats to relax/study to,’ ‘cute songs to help you cope with anxiety’ etc. In contemporary classical music, there is an expectation that audiences listen intently and pay close attention, and that the music is received in the way that the composer intended. Despite this, my mind usually spins off in other directions, recalling past conversations, random bits of information, musical ideas, occasionally zoning back into the present before zoning out again.

This piece is intended to work both ways, to allow for active, engaged listening as well as unfocused, background listening, accepting that realistically most listeners will flicker between the two.