FIVE BELLS

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Composer's Note: Five Bells was written during the summer of 2010 in response to a commission from the Arizona Band and Orchestra Directors Association for the 2011 Arizona All-Sta te Orchestra. Like most of my works in the last twenty years, the work originated from a keyboard improvisation which was transcribed and reworked into a composition for orchestra. The reworking involved restructuring the material, balancing sections, and enhancing the dramatic timing. I also solidified the motivic continuity, and clarified the tonal and structural implications. The technique is similar to a sculptor who uses, enhances, and gives meaning to an object without changing the basic composition or form of the original medium. The original improvisation was recorded in October of 2009.The title, Five Bells, refers to a haunting poem by the Australian poet Kenneth Slessor. The poet, who was also a journalist, wrote the poem in memory of a colleague, an editorial cartoonist, who drowned after he jumped off a ferry and tried to race it to the dock. His colleague's robust life and tragic death still haunted Slessor after nearly a decade. The poem, with its vivid and dramatic imagery asks "why do I keep thinking about you?" He has no answer. The five bells refer to marine time, the moment when his friend jumped off the ferry. It becomes a symbol of both the moment of death, and the incessant and indifferent passage of time, as opposed to how we perceive time emotionally. Parts available on request. Show more