Advanced Composition Search: science or geography themes

Composer's note:

In the northern Pacific Ocean, currents move in vast spirals that carry debris between far flung locations. A plastic bottle blown off of a landfill in Tokyo might turn up on the Alaskan coast. A disposable lighter swept into a storm sewer in San Diego might wash ashore on a Hawaiian beach. Miles off the coast of California, an immense sea of plastic slowly swirls, threatening wildlife and gradually entering the food chain as it breaks down into tiny fragments.

The densest of these despoiled areas, dubbed “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” is the size of Texas and extends thirty feet below the ocean surface. Our practice of using permanent, non-biodegradable materials for temporary storage will have potentially far-reaching effects on biodiversity and the health of people who eat seafood.

The Widening Gyre metaphorically engages this environmental catastrophe. My intent is not to depict lurid scenes of accumulating trash in a literal way, but rather to transform the general process into an engine for music-making. 

rev. version

Excerpt - An Orderly Transition; Linda Larson, soprano

See attached PDF for program notes by composer