And the Brightest Rivers Glide (2019)

For symphony orchestra
2 + picc, 2 + Eng. hn, 2 + b. cl, 2 + contra
4, 3, 3, 1
timp, 3 perc
hp
pn/cel
strings

Duration: 7 minutes

Program Note:

And the Brightest Rivers Glide is a short composition for large orchestra; its title refers to a fragment from a poem by the Persian poet Rumi. I have always been fascinated by the Sufism of Persian poets, and how their evocative depictions of earthly pleasures are actually metaphors for the intensity and purity of their spiritual devotion. In this way, this piece is an attempt to conjure a dramatic, voluptuous surface that surrounds the deeper spiritual essence, as depicted by a pure and simple lyrical line.

The structure of the piece is a hybrid idea inspired by palindromes and the Golden Ratio, or the divine proportion. Musical ideas and textures re-appear in exact reverse order of the opening episodes, their length upon return considerably shortened in order to maintain an organic and proportional dramatic arc.

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