Category: Chamber Music / Flute / Piano
Instrumentation: flute, piano
Publisher: ALRY Publications
Performers: commissioned by flutist Karen Johnson

The Darkness Between Us is a work for flute and piano dedicated to Jwandune, a young Afghan girl injured by a bomb dropped from a U.S. drone in Afghanistan. The piece responds to the contrast between a child’s ordinary, carefree life and the sudden violence that altered it, while also honoring Jwandune’s resilience, reconstructed life, and recovered sense of happiness amid lasting trauma.

As both a chamber work and a featured flute composition, The Darkness Between Us belongs naturally in recital and small-ensemble contexts. The flute carries much of the work’s human and songlike presence, while the piano provides emotional depth, dramatic weight, and harmonic atmosphere. Its placement in piano repertoire also reflects the importance of the keyboard part as an active partner in shaping the work’s narrative.

The piece is divided into two sections. The first, Â Lalo Lalo Lalo, begins with a quotation from the Afghan nursery rhyme of the same name, representing Jwandune’s early innocence before moving toward struggle and pain at the moment of attack. When the music attempts to recover the nursery rhyme, it returns changed—sadder, altered, and unable to be exactly as it was. The second section, Jwandune’s Song, depicts the uplifting strength she has shown in her new life.

Baxter’s writing combines lyrical directness with contemporary harmonic color and a strong dramatic arc. The Darkness Between Us is well suited for flute and piano recitals, chamber music programs, contemporary classical concerts, and programs centered on memory, conflict, resilience, or social witness. It calls for performers able to sustain both expressive tenderness and emotional intensity.