del Águila - Absent Lights

Written and premiered 2021 it was commissioned by Univ. of New Mexico College of Fine Arts, Kimberly Fredenburgh and Kevin Vigneau. The work honors and remembers the victims of the COVID 19 pandemic – the “lights” that went “absent” – while depicting the mood of isolation, emptiness and strangeness many felt during this time. The work begins with a dark introduction by clarinet and bassoon. The oboe soon joins them in a choral of remembrance and soon leads them with a solo poignant melody. The mood picks up as if trying to return to happier, normal times but keeps returning to darkness. After a long, eerie, buzzing chord stops the music, the oboe returns, this time from backstage where it’s joined by the other two instruments as the piece ends with a dark, empty stage.