From Son To Father

Abstract

This programmatic work for chamber orchestra features musical motifs based onthree characters: myself, my father, and my son. Musical transitions evoke these characters transitioning along the cyclical paths of life and death. This work is composed of three interconnected movements. The first movement, with its happy and lively beginning, centers around my relationship with my father from my childhood to the last of his days. In this movement, I present two distinct motifs representing myself and my father. These two themes simultaneously develop throughout this section, representing both my own growth as well as the growth in my relationship with my father. The second movement begins with my theme and explores a range of moods and emotions following my father’s death—sad moments that capture feelings of solitude of life without my father along with interspersions of grief and anger. The third movement through tempo and rhythm expresses happiness surrounding the arrival of my baby, my son.