Program note

Looking Forward from Three Angles sets the text of three quotes from wartime leaders throughout American history: Donald Rumsfeld, Theodore Roosevelt, and George Washington. In the relatively liberal environment where most of my music is performed, the audience is likely to interpret my piece as mocking Donald Rumsfeld in its initial section. But as the piece goes back in time, the quotes get more specific and closer to the heart of what most people think of as a neoconservative spirit. By the end we realize that while the leaders of the 1780s may have been more articulate than the leaders who got us into our most recent wars, the attitude towards all war has remained essentially the same.

The work’s formal structure is driven by a large-scale progression of several chords alongside a different progression of rhythmic ideas. Looking Forward works constantly with two different simultaneous melodies. One is the “war” motive which remains unchanged throughout the piece, first pronounced by the bassoon. The other melody is a constantly shifting four note motive, drawn from a specific set of nine notes. The changing of this motive also occurs on a large scale progression, competing with the rhythmic and harmonic progressions of the piece. The piece ends where it began harmonically, but with a much greater consciousness of the harmonic possibilities of that opening material.

Performances