In June of this year, we gave an interdisciplinary and interactive workshop at the 35th Annual International Conference on Virgina Woolf in Istanbul, Turkey. The workshop intertwined literary interpretation, music theory and composition, and aleatoric music making to explore the sonic textures of the “Time Passes” interlude in To the Lighthouse. We began by discussing how music concepts can highlight elements of Woolf’s prose and elucidate the novel’s larger themes of time, subjectivity, and selfhood. Participants then experimented with interpreting Woolf’s text through musical ideas, creating graphic scores and exploring what Angela Frattarola calls Woolf’s “found sounds.” (No musical experience necessary.)

The presentation culminated in a performance by violinist Yestyn Griffith of an original piece composed by Sam Young for the occasion, inspired by the interweaving of silence and sound in “Time Passes.” In depicting the backdrop of pervasive silence and amplifying the layered soundscape of the decaying house—the slow pulsing of the lighthouse beam, the nibbling rats and “fumbling airs,” and the sudden intrusions of human-made sounds—the piece mirrors Woolf’s approach of coaxing music from incessant forces of decay, or what Stefine Heine calls the “forces of undoing.” The performance was followed by discussion about the piece, the composition process, and insights sparked by the interdisciplinary analysis. Today we review this experience.

Elizabeth Crawford is a modernist scholar and passionate teacher finishing her PhD in English at UCLA and teaching Rhetoric at the University of Iowa. Her research explores the way women writers reimagine the aerial point of view to challenge patriarchal forces of aviation and warfare in the early twentieth century. She has presented her work internationally for the International Virginia Woolf Society and the Modernist Studies Association, and in 2020, she was awarded the prestigious UCLA Distinguished Teaching Award. Raised in Santa Cruz, California, Elizabeth holds a BA in English from UC Berkeley and Master’s degrees in education from UC Santa Cruz and humanities and social thought from NYU.

Assistant Professor of Composition and Music Theory (UI) Sam Young is a composer, percussionist, and educator whose work explores the soundscapes of natural and urban environments, ranging from acoustic to experimental electronic music and synth pop. An avid collaborator, he works with choreographers and filmmakers to create compelling multimedia experiences. He is currently the drummer and arranger for the rock band Kick and the Hug. Drawing on his experience as a drummer, he creates music that is rhythmically driven and spacious in texture, finding intersections between popular music and classical performance traditions. Originally from Boulder, Colorado, he received his PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles. He also holds degrees from the Mannes School of Music (MM) and Metropolitan State University of Denver (BM).