Archaic Revival

for orchestra

Performed by the Peabody Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Trevor Wilson, 12/8/19 in Friedberg Hall, Peabody Institute, Baltimore, MD.

This piece was inspired by historical events that reinforce a belief in the cyclical nature of time on both a macro and microscopic scale. As time progresses and history can be perceived to be repeating itself, it is difficult to tell if we as humans can approach these repetitions with wisdom gained from past experiences. While we are given opportunities to grow and transcend beyond our current social, political, and economic conditions, we often times give the illusion of moving onward and upward while in reality sticking to old systems of thinking. The structure at a glance is a simple ABA’ form, yet future gestures of the B section are hinted at in the A section while previous ideas emerge sonically and literally from underneath the surface in the B section. The final third A’ prime section is a conglomeration of all of the preceding ideas, presented in a collage-like manner. This work is sonically dense so that these various ideas can emerge and wither away underneath it throughout. This quote from George Crumb was an immense inspiration to me as I worked on this piece: “Time really is circular and it can intersect…and project future things even”.

Full Score