Life and Death

I was deeply touched by these paintings by Thomas Cole. I stuck very closely to what I saw in the paintings and wrote from there. Though one could imagine a type of civilization building game where you are trying to help nature survive the expansion of man. Sort of an anti-civilization. Either way, I greatly enjoyed working on these pieces and hope you enjoy listening to them. 

Beginning

Before man came to be, nature called this world home. It is awe inspiring, but beautiful at the same time. This piece captures that grandeur and the beauty that lies within. It also introduces the nature motif.

Harmony

This is the moment where man and nature are able to coexist one with another. There is an equal give and take between the two. In the second half of the track, you can hear the motifs for both nature and man mingling together in perfect harmony. This is the ideal state.

Arrogance

Unfortunately, man is rarely content to allow nature to grow unchecked. Slowly, man takes more and more until there is hardly a place for nature any longer. Vast forests give way to sprawling cities. In this moment man is at its peak while nature can hardly be found. This is the true introduction for the motif of man, played in great splendour and glory.

Discord

When man has taken all he can from nature, he then turns on himself. The now familiar motif sounds in the horns of war as blood is spilt and walls come tumbling down.

Rebirth

This piece starts slowly as you survey the ruins of a once great civilization. The once triumphant motif plays one final time from a single trumpet, remenescent of taps. Then, things change. This change is made evident by a key change and a time signature change. Slowly nature reclaims the land that was once hers. And the once sorrowful tone slowly transforms into something beautiful. You hear nature's motif return in the mallets as we once again return to where we started. Rebirth.