Four Greens

This piece explores the relationship between color and emotion, using Albers’s commentary on the subjectivity of color in his painting Four Greens as inspiration. The piece consists of four movements, representing the four greens in Albers’s painting from the outermost green to the innermost. The first movement, entitled“Ever”, captures the longing emotions I associate with evergreen, while also introducing the main themes. The second movement, entitled “Sea”, seeks to encapsulate the instability and depth of a dark sea green, further developing the themes introduced in the first movement. The third movement entitled “Forest”, features the first violin, and represents how forest green is a transition color from the“dark” greens to the lighter ones. The fourth and final movement is entitled “Meadow”, and is written to capture the joy of reaching the grass that is “greener” on the other side. If this composition were a journey, it would take you reluctantly from a place you love to an unknown land, where you overcome adversity to find a greater happiness.