“Longfellow’s poem Snow-flakes equates the falling of snow to the revealing of inner grief. By my interpretation, this grief is revealed in artistic expression, turning pain into beauty. This composition serves as both a personal expression of the intense depression I had been experiencing at the time of its composition, and a reflection of how the process of converting pain into art feels.

The first moments of the piece are tentative, as is often the case when one prepares to bare their hurt before the world. Soon, the piece begins to feel more confident, but it is subverted before the first thought can be truly completed by way of its cadence, inspiring a feeling of incompletion. The next section of the piece transitions from telling about one’s emotions to showing them, with the first real tears falling at the word ‘snow’. From there the music begins to weep, and in doing so experiences the catharsis of emotional release around the word ‘confession’. In having wept and experienced emotion in its fullest, only then can the piece return to its original theme and achieve a sense of completion at the cadence. In other words, grief can only be properly expressed and understood by allowing oneself to experience it.”