We don't accomplish our love in a single year as the flowers do.”
These words by the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, translated by Stephen Mitchell, are printed in the score of my piece my heart comes undone. The work was a commission from the Peabody Preparatory’s Pre-Conservatory Violin Program, directed by Rebecca Henry. I asked Rebecca if I could create two versions of the piece: one for her outstanding ensemble, and one for cello and loop pedal for the cellist that I had started dating in late 2013. Rebecca graciously agreed, and I gave Lavena the score as a gift on Valentine’s Day in 2014.
I had intended the Rilke epigraph, and the music, to encapsulate the relatively long journey from our first meeting to the beginning of our relationship. (The title of the piece, and its musical point of departure, come from Björk's “Unravel”; I had introduced Lavena to the song during our 19-month prelude.) Seven years after that Valentine’s Day, and four years into our marriage, it turns out that Rilke’s words were about a much longer journey than we might have imagined.
As Rilke knew, we don’t accomplish our art in a single year, either. Lavena didn’t realize it at the time, but she began the process of making her debut album in 2014, when she recorded my heart comes undone. This past Friday, a remastered version of the piece was released as the first single from in your hands. You can stream the single on Spotify and Apple Music, and pre-save the entire album on those and other platforms. If you pre-order “in your hands” you’ll immediately receive your own digital copy of my heart comes undone.
I’m in awe of what Lavena has accomplished in making this album, and so grateful that this piece, along with our story, is a part of it.