Black Mountain Collage for solo harp (2021)
“Black Mountain Collage” performed by Danielle Kuntz
It’s hard to pin down a start to this piece, but I think the inspiration originally came from an exhibit of Krista Elrick’s work at the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts at Appalachian State. The exhibit, Where are the birds? Retracing Audubon, includes several collages and rephotographs of birds and landscapes, building off of John James Audubon’s work.
What struck me about Elrick’s exhibit, and the idea of rephotography in general, was how clearly the landscapes had changed in 200 years. Looking out of my window in Boone, it’s tempting to imagine the mountains and hills as permanent, imposing fixtures. Retracing Audubon reminded me that as detailed and correct maps and landscapes may be in the moment, they’re eventually reduced to being very accurate timestamps.
At the same time, while thinking specifically about solo harp, I couldn’t shake John Cage’s In a Landscape from my brain. I’ve been a fan of the piece for years, and so much of it captures the way that I wanted to treat the instrument. What’s more, it premiered at Black Mountain College, which was relatively close to where I live now. Black Mountain College closed in 1957.
With Elrick and Audubon in mind, I borrowed a few measures of Cage’s Landscape, and imagined a new home for them: abstracted from the original, 70 miles north-northeast, and 70 years into the future. I see this piece as another timestamp, both of my composition in the year 2021, and my life in North Carolina. Ultimately, Black Mountain Collage finds comfort in the fact that nothing is permanent.
Black Mountain Collage was written for Danielle Kuntz, and premiered in January 2022.