The text for Ēriks’ Quartet is by Oregon poet Laureate Paulann Petersen; it focuses on the moon, noticing that it seems to be waiting for us to describe it in art — like a poem, waiting to be found. In Peterson’s words and Ēriks’ music we are reminded of the ephemerality of our lives set against the quiet eternity of the universe.
— from notes by The Crossing © 2017
Translation was commissioned for The Crossing’s Jeff Quartets, a concert-length set of fifteen new works for four voices dedicated to the memory of the choir’s co-founder Jeff Dinsmore. Jeff Quartets was premiered on 8 July 2016 and features composers Louis Andriessen, Benjamin CS Boyle, William Brooks, Robert Convery, Ēriks Ešenvalds, Paul Fowler, Ted Hearne, Bo Holten, Gabriel Jackson, David Lang, Lansing McLoskey, Santa Ratniece, David Shapiro, Kile Smith, and Lewis Spratlan.
