THE G-D CLAUSE (2025) for piano trio

Instrumentation: piano trio

Duration: ~13 minutes

Performance/Recording History:

• Premiered by Pierce Wang, violin, Alice Lee, cello, and Nabeel Haik, piano on April 30, 2025 at Alice Tully Hall in New York City, NY.

Program Notes:

In January 2025, I found myself sitting at my keyboard in my apartment, trying desperately to begin this piece. Clearly, I was not having much luck, because at one point I began reading the warranty for the digital piano. As I read, I came across this line: “This warranty does not cover [...] damages attributable to power line surge or related electrical anomalies, lightning damage or acts of G-d”. I was struck by the last part of the line and how something so apparently archaic and theological as “acts of G-d” made its way into an otherwise secular warranty.

After doing some research, I discovered that the act of G-d clause is ubiquitous in legal documents, and that it refers to catastrophic natural events, like tornadoes, floods, and hurricanes, which are considered outside human control. Essentially, the act of G-d clause is used as an exception to liability for damages caused by these events.

At first, I was amused by the presence of this ancient-sounding stipulation in a modern warranty. However, my amusement soon turned to worry. Extreme weather events are hugely consequential on a global level, costing hundreds of billions of dollars a year and resulting in countless fatalities. And due to the climate crisis, the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events is only increasing. Moreover, climate disasters have been proven to be affected and worsened by human activity. Is it not negligent and unjust to claim that these so-called “acts of G-d” are completely outside the scope of human responsibility? How much money and resources has the G-d clause already cost people, and how much more will it impact us in the future?

My composition is a rumination on these themes of responsibility and negligence. Throughout the piece, the central motive is continually confronted by impending danger, but the motive refuses to acknowledge it and blindly proceeds ahead. As the music continues, the interjections of danger become more frequent and more violent, and eventually, the motive is swallowed up and forced to reckon with it.

Note on the title: I am an observant Jew, and we avoid writing the full name of G-d because of the risk that the written name might later be defaced, obliterated or destroyed.