Sloth (2012)
violin, fixed-media electronics, stereo audio, and single-channel video
Sloth was written for Mexican violinist Abderrahman Anzaldua as part of La Rueda de los Pecados (Wheel of Sins) project: a commissioning project joining seven composers from the United States and Mexico around the theme of sin.
We often view sloth as a purely pejorative term, but I question if sloth can really be summed up as pure laziness. Below the surface, sloth is a failure to recognize, within ourselves, a feeling of self-worth and ability to succeed. In effect, what reflects itself as laziness is a clouded, outward expression of our own feelings of emptiness and fear: our avoidance of failure. Ironically, although we view sloth as a lack of desire to accomplish, a burning desire to discover our own worth is often hidden just below the surface.
8 minutes and 30 seconds
written for Abderrahman Anzaldua as part of La Rueda de los Pecados (Wheel of Sins) project and premiered on November 19, 2012 in the Dalton Center Recital Hall at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan.