Our Book, Open Halfway Through

I recently finished this piano piece as a gift for my wife, Lisa, on our 20th wedding anniversary.

The piece is a narrative work based on our marriage. It features six themes representing different emotional states. Three of these are from pieces I previously wrote for her—"Butterfly & Tiger," "Wedding Processional," and "Bells"—while the other three are new. Throughout the piece, two themes often occur simultaneously to communicate various combinations of emotions. Additionally, I used a floating barline and frequent meter changes to represent the uncertainty of life and marriage.

The title refers to a poem by Wisława Szymborska: "Every beginning is only a sequel, after all, and the book of events is always open halfway through." To me, this suggests that all moments of our lives are connected; in a mindfully lived life, we never close the book, but welcome the next page while being grateful for the last. This felt like the perfect description of our marriage.