Symphony No. 1 "The Machine"

"The Machine" tells the story of the human spirit's ability to encounter set backs and push through them. While sounding chaotic, this represents the struggle of the human spirit to push through the many obstacles it encounters in order to become a well centered human being. The piece doesn't focus on the "uplifting" sounds associated with overcoming, rather the struggle required to build character and break through the barriers set before it. The dissonant push and pull throughout should be viewed as a necessary struggle to be celebrated in the non-traditional sense, because that's what every triumph begins with: a struggle. This piece focuses on those struggles and although one might believe it to end violently and downtrodden, it actually represents the strength needed to begin to triumph over the problems the human spirit faces on a regular basis. Rather than viewing the ending of the work as a failure to break through, it should be seen as the difficult culmination of strength that ultimately would lead to the uplifting success of overcoming life's spiritual obstacles.