chimes

The sound world of Pt. Reyes Seashore came to me in the winter of 2010-11 during a hike with my family in the Pt. Reyes National Seashore.  Pt. Reyes is a cape about 60 miles north of San Francisco.  It has the distinction of being connected to the San Andreas Fault, and, as a result, of moving northward at the rate of about 2 inches per year.  It is the home of numerous species of flora and fauna, and contains some of the most remarkable views of and access to the Pacific Ocean on the West Coast. We had been hiking the McClures Beach Trial in the northern part of the park when we passed uphill of a magnificent passage of ocean pounding against the rocks and beach of the coast.  The sound—even at a distance of perhaps 500 yards—was incredibly memorable:  deep booms, echoes, churns…. it challenged me to think of any human produced or created sound that could equal its magnificence.  Experiencing the scene—the waves on the coast, the vast ocean behind it—I thought of the power of the ocean, and the humility of water. 

The Other Side of Time was written for the New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble at the request of its director, Charles Peltz. It is scored for 25 wind instruments, timpani, and 4 percussionists. After a brooding beginning, each of its contiguous sections develops at a different but related tempo, often moving within from lyrical lines to dramatic outbursts. The final section, at the original tempo, recalls the material of the opening and its anxious percussion activity. While the piece is meant to reflect some kind of spiritual journey, the title is actually taken from a book by paleontologist/geologist Robert Titus on the origins of the Catskill Mountains in New York State.