This is my largest and personal favorite work so far. It’s based off of a painting that my friend made (and I purchased from him) of an ocean in space. There are six sections of the piece; each section represents a different part of the painting. The sections are as follows:
-The Misted Ocean
-Stars
-Mountain With An Eye
-The Red Planet
-The Blue Planet
-Sunrise Waterfall

The Misted Ocean serves as the introduction to the piece. In this section, the main motives and themes that are used and transformed throughout the work are heard and introduced. It paints the overall feel of the painting while specifically thinking about the main feature of the painting: the ocean in space.

Stars is exactly what it says it is about, stars. This section portrays the stars in the sky of space in the painting and the energy and fun they create, especially the shooting star in the middle of the painting.

Mountain With An Eye portrays a mountain figure in the painting that appears to have an eye in its formation. I see this mountain and the idea of wisdom comes to mind, so I work to portray the idea of this sort of mystical celestial wisdom that a mountain with an eye may hold.

The Red Planet is the most contrasting section of the piece. This is because there is a red planet in the painting that when I first saw it, I felt that it was sort of out of place. It’s dark red color contrasts greatly with the blues and subtle greens in the rest of the painting. Taking some influence from Holst’s “The Planets,” I envisioned a world of strength and power, perhaps even war, on the surface of this red planet.

The Blue Planet also takes influence from “The Planets.” While the previous section took from Mars, this section takes from Neptune. The blue planet in the painting have a very light and floaty look to it, which I portrayed in the music. This is the longest section of the piece and in my opinion, also the most beautiful. The chord progressions are reminiscent of those of Debussy: static in motion.

Sunrise Waterfall is the final section of the piece and is a highly energetic finale. This section took inspiration from Mackey’s “Aurora Awakes” with the ideas of mixed meters, hints of polymeter„ and constant energy to portray a tilted waterfall in the painting with a sun rising just behind it. This piece take the main motive that is played in each section and treats it as the melody in a new rhythm for a fun ending to this piece.

I am so very proud of this work and super excited to finally get to share it with the world! I had an absolute blast working on this piece over the last few months and hope y’all enjoy it as much as I do! :D