The name of the piece is drawn from a poem of the same name by the 16th-century Spanish mystic and poet St. John of the Holy Cross. The phrase “Dark Night of the Soul,” besides its theological context, has long struck me as a depiction of the mental state of confronting a truth of some kind. That truth can be a concept, an emotion, or a problem–such as an aspect of social injustice. The Black Lives Matter movement and a range of other societal happenings this year were the main inspirations for this piece’s conceptual and emotional core.
Each of the four miniatures are bound, in one way or another, by a set of constraints, and seek to transcend these rules as the music progresses. The rhythm of constant activity and locomotion is also present in each movement, signifying a call for action, and depicting the journey it takes in every struggle towards justice. And that journey really starts from within–at an individual level–as we each recognize the issue at hand and take action within our own communities. This individual process, what I’d like to think of as a “personal revolution,” is emotional and profoundly impactful, as we consider just how each “small drop in the ocean” can amount to tremendous social change, for better or worse.
Born in New Zealand and raised in China, Helen Feng is a composer, pianist, and vocalist who finds creative anchors at the intersection of literature, philosophy, media, psychology, and activism. Her mission as an artist is to forge communities and genuine human connections on the grounds of openness, respect, awareness, and compassion. She aspires to create music that is true to herself, unrestrained by boundaries of style/genre, and advances empowerment.
Helen is currently pursuing an undergraduate degree in music composition (with minors in psychology and entrepreneurship/innovation) at Northwestern University. Helen attended the Walden School in 2018 and 2019, and was accepted to Boston University Tanglewood Institute and Mostly Modern Festival‘s composition programs in 2020. She has written music for members of the International Contemporary Ensemble, Wet Ink Ensemble, Cassatt String Quartet, and wild Up.
Helen is a recipient of the 2020 NextNotes Music Creator Awards of the American Composers Forum, a finalist at the 2019 Morton Gould Young Composers Awards of the ASCAP Foundation, an honorable mention for the Luna Lab Composition Fellowship at the Kaufmann Music Center, and a finalist in the 2020 call for music journalists for the I CARE IF YOU LISTEN magazine.