Nighthawks was written in homage to Edward Hopper, and is dedicated to Dr. Nasreen Roberts and Dr. Christos Hatzis. Ho later incorporated Nighthawks as the third movement of his City Suite (2011), a concerto for violoncello and orchestra written for Shauna Rolston. An arrangement of Nighthawks for violoncello and piano is also available.
The opening moments of Nighthawks immediately conjure up the lonesome, windswept urban terrain that awaits the nocturnal figures in Hopper's painting. Extended breath techniques in the woodwind and brass sections combine with prepared strings and rolling, rattling percussion to evoke what could be the rustling of a discarded newspaper – the tumbleweed of the city – shuffling its way down a deserted pavement. A swirling, smoky clarinet line and a restrained, yet emotionally raw string choir sets the scene for the emergence of the solo cello, the storyteller in this work. The sweetness of the cello's upper register is used to carve out tender, rising passages that lift the woodwind and string choirs with it in subtle swells of melancholy, while the lower reaches of the instrument bring out the dark night of the soul in low, searching moans. Even the climax of the piece retains a sense of quiet turmoil as surges of brass emerge from a bed of flailing strings, leading to the cello's final statement and a return to the windswept soundscape of the beginning. The work floats in mid-air throughout, its true rhythm found in periodic sighs. Surges of emotion from the orchestra, exhaling in rich, aching chords, surround the cello's lonesome lines.
Edward Hopper has been a favorite painter of mine for many years now. Nighthawks was the first work of his I was introduced to. Upon my first viewing, I was immediately drawn to its existential loneliness: the sense that we are ultimately alone in the face of reality. In the painting, when we look at the flourescent-lit cafe situated in the dark New York Street, we expect it to be welcoming, but it is not. There is no entrance, no door. The extreme brightness of the interior makes the people inside seem held, exposed and vulnerable. They are hunched over in a defensive position and no one seems to be aware of each other's presence (with the exception of the bartender).
The painting portrays the three customers as being lost in their own private thoughts. Such moments of reflection place the scene outside narrative time and space, putting the viewer in a voyeuristic position.As a response to this painting, I decided to create my own musical interpretation of the work. Both the cello and orchestra are treated as a duo, presenting themselves as equal partners. The thematic material is kept very simple and sparse, giving the performer enough flexibility to express the desolation and loneliness that is felt in the painting. Various extended techniques are employed to connect the audience to elements that lie outside musical realms (eg. gusts of wind, distant rustlings, etc).
