2025

Flute, B♭ Clarinet, B♭ Bass Clarinet, E♭ Alto Saxophone, Horn in F, B♭ Trumpet, Cello, and Piano

~8 minutes

PROGRAM NOTES:

It opens with a very slow, placid piano solo. To me, this theme represents

serenity and centering oneself. I was thinking about natural beauty when writing

this: a winding river, sprawling plains; harmony between land and people.

Suddenly, the peace is interrupted. Some “other” enters. To me, the

interjections are little imps dancing in a sacred place. They seem harmless, just a

couple of jokers jumping around and causing minor mischief.

The music tries returning to the opening stillness, but the water begins to

ripple, small inconsistencies and outliers emerge. The horn and cello hold on

dissonant, uncomfortable notes while the piano tries to calm itself. Just when it

seems to return to normal…

Something breaks

The imps break something they shouldn’t. An ancient, deep evil awakens.

There is a constant, repetitive ground bass as the saxophone takes the lead. The

instruments gradually layer on top of each other, intensity building and building

until… it dissipates?

Beauty is the forefront throughout the next section. Not necessarily physical

beauty, but rather something so profound, caring, sincere, and loving. This energy

envelopes the land and it feels almost dream-like. Maybe everything will be okay,

maybe the world isn’t ending.

But alas, like tolling the dead, the bass instruments twist the original melody

into a gnarled reminder of what has been awoken. The tranquility sought after

begins crumbling. Dissonance blossoms as the ensemble plays these organ-like pads

gradually becoming tenser and tenser and tenser.

Nature destabilizes. Splinters of the whole. Chaos. The last thread of sanity

snaps and we hear the world cry out in pain as the music descends into blind,

searing grief and anger.

It ends abruptly.