It's been a while since I've posted an update on the progress of this piece. With all the moving, company, traveling, and other life stuff that's been happening I haven't had as much time to work on this piece as I would have liked. Nevertheless, I have new material to show.

I've added a new section that builds upon previous material but with a lighter texture. It starts with pizzicato bass, harp, and solo clarinet with the rest of the woodwinds joining before the climax of this section. The cadence here is an altered version of the first one and is designed to segway directly into the next section which I will be working on this week. The 7/4 section will still be in the piece, but it will come at a much later point.

Click here to listen.

I admit that I've been a little bit lax on the podcasting as of late. However, I've been fairly busy as I'm in the process of moving to a new apartment and have begun work on yet another orchestral piece (not the one I mentioned in the last podcast.) This new piece has the working title of 'Triumph' though I'm sure the title will change before I'm finished.

The piece starts out with a repeating figure played by the harp. The violins then enter with the main theme followed by the cellos (also playing the main theme). Section by section, other instruments enter with harmonic accompaniment until the theme reaches its climax. Up until this point I'm fairly satisfied with what I've done. However the transitional measure leading to the 7/4 section are problematic for me as I'm still not sure what to due about the triplet figures played by the upper string parts. As for the 7/4 section, there are a few changes that I'm making that involve the structure of the accompanying parts that will allow me to take this section where I want it to go.

Click here to listen.

My next project involves writing the first movement of my piano concerto in E-minor which will be called the Concerto of Deliverance. The title and the program of this piece comes directly from two sources. The first source is the literary allusion to Ayn Rand's masterpiece, Atlas Shrugged. The novel is set in the not-too-distant future where the men and women who think and act with integrity are going on strike against a world that's designed to destroy any form of greatness. One of the strikers is a composer named Richard Halley, who writes a piano concerto of the same name in dedication to the leader of the strike for setting men free of the evil morality of altruism that has plagued mankind from the beginning.

The second source comes from my own personal moral awakening. Much of how I live influences how I write. Over the last five years my own personal life has had many ups and downs from my own struggle to live to my fullest potential. Everything in this work is a reflection of different aspects of that struggle. The first movement shows anger, passion, and indignation. The second shows anguish, turmoil, and despair. The third movement is complete exaltation and happiness.