The Lives We Leave Behind

The Lives We Leave Behind

Duration: 17 min

Instrumentation: Piano, Live Electronics

Technical Specifications: 1080p video, .wav 44.1kHz stereo audio

Performer: Wesley Shen

Year: 2025

The Lives We Leave Behind thematically relates to concepts found in my earlier piano piece, entitled Anemoia. Anemoia describes the feeling of nostalgia for a time one has never known, and the title ‘The Lives We Leave Behind’ outlines a similar feeling I get sometimes thinking about the many choices I have made in my life. Each one of these choices could have lead to many other ‘lives’ — different occupations, places of residence, life partners, friendships I could have had.

All alternate versions of me that never got to live, at least in this dimension. And while some of these thoughts can turn melancholy at times as one tends to second-guess and question past decisions, for the most part these thoughts are as varied as the possible lives themselves — at times equally joyous, silly, profound, or fantastical.

This piece is a whirlwind of these lives, individual musical themes that overlap and diffuse into one another. Sometimes appearing as fleeting as the thoughts themselves, they reflect the multitudes of life possibilities found in the countless choices we make each day.