Wash (2022)

for symphony orchestra

When looking up the word “wash” in Merriam-Webster online dictionary*, you will find nearly fifty different nuanced meanings of it. I have always found it fascinating how one thing can mean multitude of things. Besides its onomatopoeic implications to my piece, there are a few definitions of the word that are particularly descriptive of, and in the process of composing, were prescriptive to it:

verb

- to cleanse by or as if by the action of liquid (such as water).

- to move, carry, or deposit by or as if by the force of water in motion.

noun

- a piece of ground washed by the sea or river.

- the surging action or sound of waves.

- a sweep or splash especially of color made by or as if by a long stroke of a brush.

(these definitions have been taken from Merriam-Webster and Oxford online dictionaries)

* - https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wash