an aching... like a memory is a personal meditation on loss and memory. Reflecting on the beautifully bittersweet emotions at the heart of Tennyson’s line “’tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all,” I wrote this piece as a sort of journal to process my own feelings, reflecting on memory as something imperfect but precious. The music moves between moments of happiness and sadness, coated with a hazy texture like a nostalgic memory. Motifs throughout the piece are presented either perfectly or altered, just as memories can change with the passage of time.

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This recording is of the previous version for string orchestra and clarinet.