Breathing Sunlight for violin & cello by Akshaya Avril Tucker, image of Tucker smiling, tinted orange

PHOTO BY SUPREETI SHARMA

Breathing Sunlight (2017)
by Akshaya Avril Tucker

Instrumentation: violin & cello
Length: 9 mins
PDF Price: $25+

COMPOSER’S NOTE:
“Breathing Sunlight” is about moments spent with those who will leave us soon. Simple things, like lying on the grass, in the sun, breathing — these moments of conscious stillness, within a mind racked by mental and physical discomfort — are as significant as they are fleeting. The love we feel in those moments is strong, transcending our physical boundaries.
-Akshaya Avril Tucker

Related works are also available:
Breathing Sunlight for viola & cello

PDF sheet music will be delivered a few minutes after making payment. This work is sold as one score to be read by both players (no separate parts)

+Dynamic pricing helps us keep this work accessible while letting you pay more at check out, if you choose

About the composer:
Composer’s website Composer’s biography

“'Breathing Sunlight,' a light-textured but sinewy duet for violin and cello, draws on Indian melodic modes to create a dialogue of seductive charm. Notes bend and slide in and out of tune; wispy thematic figures flutter past, implying solid harmonic structures underneath. In barely 10 minutes, Tucker built a lovely castle out of air..." -The San Francisco Chronicle

This work was created under the aegis of the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music.

Notable performances:

  • Johnny Gandelsman and Joshua Roman, Anderson Valley Grange 669. Boonville, CA, 2017

  • Sheffield Chamber Players (Leo Eguchi & Sasha Callahan), 2020

  • Willamette Valley Chamber Music Festival (Leo Eguchi & Sasha Callahan), Portland, 2020

  • A Far Cry (Robyn Bollinger & Rafael Popper-Keizer), The Boston Athenaeum, Boston MA, 2020

  • String Theory (Joshua Roman & Tessa Lark), The Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga TN, 2021

  • Members of the San Francisco Symphony (including David Goldblatt, cello), 2022

Planning a performance of this work? Please contact us and let us know the date and venue.

Score sample