Thomas Flippin is an American composer and guitarist. He has performed across the country in venues such as Carnegie Hall, The Metropolitan Museum, and The Cleveland Orchestra. His 2018 album, Night Triptych, which featured female composers exclusively, was called “one of the Best Classical Music albums of 2018 by both All Music and I Care if You Listen.” In 2020, Flippin composed Endless Loop, Endless Days as part of the Yale School of Music’s Postcards from Confinement project.
Postcards from Confinement is described by the YSM as a way “to share messages of gratitude with those who are confronting the COVID-19 pandemic directly." Students, faculty, and alumni were chosen to submit a performance of their choice dedicated to the people fighting COVID-19 on the front lines. Each performance was then sent to the recipient as a digital "postcard."
Endless Loop, Endless Days was written as a metaphor for the feelings of frustration and monotony that people felt throughout lockdown in 2020. Flippin composed the piece during the first few months of 2020, while he was in confinement in Milford, Connecticut. Written for a theorbo and loop pedal, Endless Loop, Endless Days begins with a simple melody on the theorbo. After playing this melody a few times, Flippin uses the loop pedal to continue its' repetition. He then builds on this idea with increasingly complex ideas that loop over each other. This creates a sense of tension that slowly builds throughout the piece. It begins with a simple melodic idea, but by the end, we hear many different melodies and percussive rhythms that layer over each other to create a musical sound that is both chaotic and repetitive. This represents the slow-building anxiety and frustration that many of us felt during 2020. The lockdown that we had all hoped would only last a few weeks ended up lasting months, and it took both an emotional and physical toll on the health of many people.
The use of the theorbo is also worth noting, as there are very few new compositions being written for this instrument. The use of an instrument that has been played for so long to write a piece about a topic that is so current helps to serve as a reminder that COVID-19 is temporary, even though it may not always feel that way. Many great works of art have been created as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Endless Loop, Endless Days is a great example of the kind of creativity that can come about as a response to difficult times.
- Noah Ward
What a great idea for a COVID-19 piece. It's been really fun for me to watch a lot of new music come out in the last two years that deals directly with themes from the pandemic - frustration, loss, monotony, slowing down, stress, etc. It seems every composer sat down with the sometimes extra time during the pandemic to create something about what he or she or the world at large was feeling.
ReplyDelete-Hyrum Arnesen
Noah I really enjoyed being exposed to this work. After reading your post, and hearing you talk about it in class I had an expectation of what I would hear - the piece did not match that assumption. It is crazy! If someone from the future who did not experience the COVID-19 pandemic heard this they will realize how crazy and stressful it has been / was in peak moments and places. Certainly made me feel grateful for the days that I don't feel the impact as heavily.
ReplyDelete-Laura Ruple
Hi Noah, it's a very interesting this piece. I couldn't imagine a composer today would write a piece for theorbo! And I also like there is a meaning behind using theorbo as the main instrument for the piece--the hope that the pandemic will be a temporary event.
ReplyDelete-Lydia Lee
Hi Noah! Thank you so much for sharing Thomas with us! It really stood out to me that his album from 2018 Night Triptych exclusively featured female composers, this so rarely happens! Postcards from Confinement is extremely powerful. I believe it will be used in classrooms in the future as a way to discuss the magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic, it's impact on musicians, and what those on the frontlines experienced. -Abby Ryan
ReplyDeleteHi Noah! Thanks for your blog and music. The music is simple and complicated. This music develops different musical styles in a repetitive motif. And, it is impressive that the composer would like to describe Covid-19 using this music. The piece and the instrument theorbo are so exciting.
ReplyDelete-Haksung Lee
Hi Noah! Thanks so much for sharing this music! I have never seen a theorbo performed live, so I'm very glad you shared a video. I agree with Abby that music like this which is meant to depict isolation will be extremely important in documenting this time in history. When musicians 100 years from now try to imagine what life was like for us during a global pandemic, perhaps this piece will serve as a springboard for conversation.
ReplyDeleteHi Noah! I loved listening to this piece and I think it is a perfect representation of how so many people felt throughout the pandemic, especially in its first year. There is an element of same-ness throughout the piece, just as every day felt the same throughout the lockdown. However, with the same-ness there is also an element of building tension, like you said, that is depicted through the continued layering of ideas in the piece. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteLianna
Hi Noah! I like how he went with the theme of kind of improvising and representing what this pandemic has done to us a whole by creating music. The piece you shared was very interesting and I’m planning on diving into learn more of him. Thank you for sharing! -Lydia Young
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