Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation

5-2018

Document Type

Master's Thesis

Degree Name

M.M.

Department

Music Composition

Degree Program

Music with a concentration in Music Composition, MM

Committee Chair

Rouse, Steve

Committee Co-Chair (if applicable)

Satterwhite, Marc

Committee Member

Satterwhite, Marc

Committee Member

Lloyd, Kimcherie

Author's Keywords

composition; orchestra; score; music

Abstract

This work was inspired by a beautiful image from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings: “And then it seemed to him that as in his dream in the house of Bombadil, the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise.” ~The Return of The King, Book VI chapter 9. This imagery inspired the three movements of this work. The first, The Gray Raincurtain, depicts a violent end, the world crashing down around you. The musical material of this movement gradually unravels – the piece is built in several waves, each becoming more and more tumultuous and disturbed, until the final crest shatters and leaves a deafening silence in its wake. The second movement, Silver Glass, is an in-between place – a transformation from one state of being to another. The sound of silver glass is created with bowed percussion instruments, the rest of the orchestra gradually adding their voices to create a glistening halo of sound. The final movement, The Far Green Country, emerges from this halo and embodies the excitement and joy of arriving home after a long absence. This movement rotates through key centers, slowly adding accidentals to the orchestral texture, creating the feeling of running ever upward and upward, each step of the way more euphoric than the last.

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