Babylon

A programmatic work for percussion orchestra inspired by the story of the Tower of Babel from the Book of Genesis. The piece is divided into three sections that follow the story, each with its own theme. The Land of Shinar theme is built upon a sequence of chromatic mediant chordal progressions. Tower to Heaven features a rising theme using mostly rising fourth and descending fifth chord progressions. Confusion of Language is a 12-tone row. This section features difference variants of the row and different permutations to emulate the confusion of languages. The Tower to Heaven theme cycles throughout the whole work. The piece ends as mystically and quietly as it began.