Napa

The text for Napa comes from the poem 38 degrees 26'27.204''N, 122 degrees 24'33.624''W; 45 degrees 24'59.2"N, 123 degrees 10'57.7"W (Napa; Elk Cove) by poet Brennan Lucas Staffieri, from their first book of poetry, 41 degrees 43.5"N, 49 degrees 56.8"W and explores the relationship between father and child through the analogy of Staffieri's memory of their father at Elk Cove Vineyards in Napa Valley. The music of the piece reflects the transient nature of memory, with the thoughts and motifs of each phrase seeming to interrupt one another as new stanzas in the poem begin. Each new idea in the text sees a change in the tempo, texture, and key of the music. As the piece progresses, new ideas are colored by the music of previous phrases, but the music returns fragmented, as the fading of memory with the passage of time.