Systole
for string octet
Commissioned and performed by the Oberlin Sinfonietta directed under Tim Weiss in 2018.
Systole refers to the moment in the heartbeat where the heart contracts, releasing blood into the arteries. This piece imagines musical material as if flowing through the heart, arriving at sudden moments of systolic constriction. The form of the piece then becomes entirely varied, episodic, but ebbing and flowing relying on a single chord as its foundation.
Seare Ahmad Farhat 