Abstract

Much like a geometric prism can be used to refract white light into color, so too does the Earth act as a prism for both the natural and the human. Beyond being representative of flora, fauna, seasons, the sky and the sea, colors also have strong emotional ties. Passionate reds, melancholy blues, and ecstatic yellows have informed meaning in our lives since time immemorial. Terra Prisma (Latin for “Earth Prism”) breaks the visible color spectrum down into its constituent parts and gives music to light and its associations.

Sanguis et Amor (Blood and Love) begins explosively with a fast, violent spiccato ostinato in the low strings, accompanied by heavy low brass and percussion. This weight is carried on by the upper strings before the woodwinds and harp briefly take over the melody. Military snare then accompanies the violins in a militaristic dance, before the music explodes into a frenzy, slowing and leading to the clarinets leading a soft, lyrical melody. All forces combine as the music reaches a passionate climax before the return of the opening material, forcing the love theme to take on new feeling in the opening minor mode.

Where are the Songs of Summer? is inspired by Thomas Hood’s poem Autumn. A reprieve from the violence and passion of the first movement, Where are the Songs of Summer? drastically slows and contemplates the change of seasons. As the world begins to die, only then do the full breadth of Earth’s colors emerge. The movement begins with a pensive bassoon solo singing the first of the final songs of summer. This is ended with a declamatory trumpet solo, leading the music into the second section, a song of strings and winds. The melody is thrown back and forth before vanishing entirely into a whirlwind of muted trumpets, dissonant trills, and wood block interjections. Eventually a lone trombone cuts in, singing yet another song, before the strings, acting as falling leaves, help it along. The woodwinds and a horn carry the melody into its most passionate, yet fleeting statement, before a solo horn sings a final song. The woodwinds and string harmonics return as wind to bring the season to its close, but not before the first snowflakes begin to fall in the harp.

Heliotropism is the name for the process in which plants grow to face the sun, most commonly observed in sunflowers. This movement begins with timpani, xylophone, marimba, and wood blocks rapidly jumping about as buds begin to bloom from the ground. A brief fanfare leads the strings into underscoring tremolos, changing chords infrequently as the sun shines overhead. Meanwhile, the woodwinds usher in another round of keyboard percussion madness, though this time more subdued as the now grown flowers follow the progression of the luminous strings. A quartet of euphonium, bass clarinet, English horn, and trombone focuses in on the sun as it slowly moves across the sky, before a building ostinato leads to the blooming of another round of flowers. The final measures build ecstatically before coming to a swift and energized conclusion.

Waldeinsamkeit is loosely based on a poem of the same name by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Waldeinsamkeit is a German word that literally translates to “forest loneliness,” but the closest English interpretation of it describes the feeling when one is truly alone in and connected with nature. Waldeinsamkeit is a great departure from the previous movements. Containing little in the way of melody, this movement instead focuses on creating a soundscape, guiding the listener through an auditory forest. Flute, piccolo, and trumpet all imitate birdsong bouncing high amongst the trees, while scraped tam-tam and bowed suspended cymbals provided brilliant sounds of wind and echo. Two wood blocks imitate a distant woodpecker, and microtones in the upper strings and harmonics in the double basses provided a backdrop to the goings on of the woods. Trombones imitate wolf howls, and the sounds of a bubbling brook are passed from woodwinds to brass to harp and back again. Glissandi in the strings windily blow the sound along, arriving at a stack of watery fourths in the clarinets and horns as the wanderer nears the sea. Cowbell and marimba color the shoreline while a bass drum cracks thunder in the distance. As a final trombone solo plays the listener seamlessly into the next movement, the birds of the forest begin to fade behind as seagulls screech in the cellos, inviting the listener to step into the water at their feet.

On Expanses emerges attacca from the previous movement, beginning in the waters previously entered. The cellos, violas, and bassoons play a short section before the chimes ring out a ship’s bell in the distance. This is followed by brief dance in the woodwinds, playfully suggesting approaching peace. However, a trumpet call interrupts and low brass and bass drum begin to pound as waves rise up all around. Wind blows in the flutes, and stacked fourths in the horns create a violent tempest that comes to shrill, screeching halt. Whale sounds in the harp are met with eerie, otherworldly interjections of harmonics in the violins and striking pizzicato hits in the lower strings. Soon, though, the oboes emerge over a distant horn call, culminating in a skyward launch as the orchestra enters its second expanse. Settling, the texture thins and the third expanse becomes clearer; the emptiness of the sea and sky are matched with empty feelings of loneliness. Fleeting, the music erupts back into its previous state, though only for a brief time, as swift melancholy takes back over to conclude the movement.

Fit for Kings is a culmination of all that has come before. Elements from each of the previous movements are woven into the form, providing familiar context to new material. A free trombone call sets the tone, before an agitated G-sharp minor leads into a restatement of one of the dance themes from the first movement. Now expanded upon, this theme offers an altered version of a typical courtly dance. The rhythm begins to break down, losing an eighth note at a time, before settling into three pattern that leads to an altered version of the first movements climax. It is short lived, though, as the woodwinds and strings quickly carry the listener to the fragmented dance from the fifth movement. This dance is interspersed with references to the opening trombone figure, before a horn led brass choral begins to wind the movement down. The chorale repeats, now with the first horn singing a melody reminiscent of the final call of the second movement. Glockenspiel and pizzicato violins begin a section of mysticism that explodes into grandiosity, ultimately winding to an energetic conclusion.

Advisor

Findley, Dylan

Department

Music

Disciplines

Composition

Keywords

orchestra, music, composition, music theory, large ensemble, orchestral

Publication Date

2025

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Music

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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© Copyright 2025 Ethan Yoder