"You mentioned that you were interested in knowing more about my new composition: Terra Nostra. It was commissioned last summer with the specification that it should be about climate change, which I was thrilled about since it is a cause I feel strongly about (particularly with the recent addition of my now 8-month-old son Leo who will most likely live to see the 22nd century, a world I can't even imagine!).
Terra Nostra will receive its world premiere by LUCO (www.luco.org) on June 20th, 2015, at Meany Hall (University of Washington). I will be conducting. The piece will be 30 minutes long and is scored for a very large symphony orchestra. Near the end, it will also feature a poem by 17-year-old Emily Siff. I felt it was important to have someone of her generation have a voice as I believe that climate change will have a far more dramatic impact on her future than mine.
Structurally, the piece is based on a timeline beginning with the big-bang and accelerating (so to speak since time is a constant) to present day and the future. The basic pulse is actually steady through the entire composition at 60 to the quarter. It's the growing rhythmic activity that gives it its sense of tremendous forward momentum. I make extensive use of phenomenons used in nature such as the harmonic series and the Fibonacci proportions. The direct references are (in order of appearance):
-Pre-big bang (measure 1: the unknown)
-Big-Bang
-Time begins (timpani pulse)
-Light
-Water
-Streams, oceans
-Birds
-Mankind: she (oboe solo) followed by he (cello solo). Same notes, different rhythm.
Musical quotes:
-First piece of music ever discovered: (Hurrian Hymn No.6, 1400 B.C.)
-Gregorian Chant (Dufay: Ave, maris stella)
-Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No.5, movement III)
-Mozart: Symphony No.35, opening
-Beethoven: Symphony No.9, opening
-Wagner: Tristan and Isolde, opening
-Debussy: Prelude to the afternoon of a faun (opening)
-Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring (11/4 measure)
-The industrial world and our population are growing very fast and the earth's climate begins to change. It is happening...
