I dropped my music box and now it sounds... beautiful? (2026) for mixed chamber ensemble

I dropped my music box and now it sounds... beautiful? (June, 2026) for quartet/quintet [bass flute, alto saxophone, violin, percussion, & optional fixed electronics] Written for the Ecce Ensemble at the Etchings Festival Composed by Alejandro Lobo Performed and premiered by the Ecce Ensemble Jordan Hadrill, violin Philipp Stäudlin, alto saxophone Lily Xie, bass flute Dennis Sullivan, percussion Stratis Minakakis, conductor =follow for more music= https://alejandrolobo.weebly.com https://www.instagram.com/alejandrolo... =note from the composer= I dropped my music box and now it sounds… beautiful? (June, 2026) explores what constitutes a "beautiful" sound. Using melody and harmony from a fractured music box (20 seconds arpeggiation and chorale style music); the work explores how that same music box was dropped and then made unusual “broken” sounds before it ceased to sound/work at all. It uses these clicks, detunings, speed variations, and repeated short melodic cells in combination with electronic buzz and noise pollution to create a natural sound ecosystem that is complex in texture like those soundworlds we encounter on a usual basis, but have fallen deaf to the nuances of the sound interactions created by human life. This broken music box in many ways seemed as beautiful and more intricate than before it was “broken.” In this way I intend to question both the meaning and subjectivity of words like “ugly” and “broken” in this music. ================================ Video and Audio Edited by the Bombyx Center for the Arts Recorded July 11, 2026 at Look Park, Northampton, Massachusetts #newmusic #contemporarymusic #composer #musiqueconcrete