Unfinished Earth (Symphony No. 3)

Unfinished Earth is in the three movements all of which refer to large geological motions of earth and sea, yet, like most of my recent work, also use such natural phenomena to analogously point to the large internal landscapes of the human heart and experience.

The first movement, Tempering, refers to the formation of }earth’s structure and surface but likewise is also about the structural interplay between individual and group. This plays out in a number of ways: the offstage trumpet solos throughout the movement act as a kind of call of the distant heart to which we all seek to listen and follow; the convention of pitched and even tonally centric music that collides and twists to microtonal music of expressive inflection; and finally the overall timbral expression of this music that is thick and powerful.

The second movement Eternal Ocean is referential to the many currents of human emotions as reflected, perhaps, in the many different speeds and tidal currents of colorful, tumultuous and vast, open ocean.

The final movement Tearing Drift refers externally to continental drift and how parts of continents shift or break off—this shifting and breaking off is a type of sectionalized structural approach I have adopted in this movement. But further, and again, this music is about the internal life of human experience and how life experience acts on us as a type of continental drift that repositions our attitudes over time and in relation to our life experience.

This work was written for my son Joshua who is learning the French horn and the reason why this instrument features rather prominently throughout this work—I wanted to show him the power and beauty of this fantastic instrument within an orchestral context. The piece is dedicated to brilliant Maestro Mark Gibson and the terrific CCM Philharmonia.