Into the Peaceful Unknown

Description

I was greatly impacted upon hearing of the tragic events that befell my friends, David Stephenson and Melissa French-Stephenson, that April day in 2002. I can only speculate that shock, grief, anger, denial, heartbreak, and many other emotions were swirling around in a vortex to create a whirlwind of intense feelings that cannot be put into words. David’s vivid description of the day he and his wife lost their infant son, Jon Carl, was powerful and sad all at once. Faith was their only recourse, and thus my only guide in writing this work. There are no specific programmatic intentions. The listener is invited to speculate . . . and have faith that we are all placed here on earth for a purpose.

The opening section is a rush of emotion. This energy subsides into a feeling of dazed confusion that gives way to an elegy. As this section closes, hope emerges leading directly into a re-harmonization of a common children’s song. The music takes an ethereal quality and closes with a slower treatment of the main motive of the work; a rising fifth followed by a descending third.

Published by: RBC Publications