D a v i d   V e s s

Flute - dbl. Piccolo Oboe Clarinet in Bb Bassoon Horn in F (with straight mute) Trumpet in C (with Harmon and Straight Mutes) Tenor Trombone (with Straight mute) Tuba Perc. 1: Tam-tam (Gong mallet, Superball mallet, Bow, Metal Scraper-Triangle Beater) Suspended Cymbal (Soft Mallets, Bow) Crotales (Metal Mallet, Bow) Perc. 2: Triangle (Bright Metallic-Sounding Beater) Vibraphone (Soft Mallets, Bow, Vibrato Fans) Bass Drum (Soft mallet, Superball mallet) Piano Strings

Liminal spaces have fascinated me for a long time. With the rise of YouTube and TikTok, they’ve also become a staple of internet horror—endless hallways, shadowy rooms, and my personal favorite, submerged spaces. What unites them is their lack of clear exits. They are forever in-between. That endless, transitory quality is what inspired 'Eternal Threshold'. We begin in a hallway, passing dark, empty rooms. The exit is nowhere to be found, and as unease builds, our pace quickens. A sense that something is following us gets louder. We quicken our pace. Then, a room with a pool—our only way forward. We have no choice. We dive in. As we swim, the space opens up, and above us, a strange light glows. We see massive structures and ominous shapes underwater. The music becomes more urgent, driven by tonal clusters and string glissandi as we chase the light, desperate for escape. Finally, a door—only to step through and find ourselves right back where we started. The hallway stretches ahead once more. The opening music returns, fading into the distance, leaving us forever suspended in an 'Eternal Threshold'.