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"The Discovery of Heaven" (commissioned by the New York Philharmonic and the London Philharmonic Orchestra)

"The Discovery of Heaven" is an outcome of the researcher/composer’s exploration of musical concepts of time. The title comes from the novel of the same name by Harry Mulisch in which eternal and unchanging heavenly time is contrasted with constantly changing earthly time. The research goal focused on musical echoes of these ideas so that a deeper sense of psychological time could emerge through the music than would have been possible had the concept simply been one of several parameters under investigation.

The research process that facilitated the discussion of these complex issues in music included allowing the three movements of the work each to display different metric and harmonic behaviours. In the first movement, for example, sounds are presented in durations that are either very short or very long, with no transitional material mediating between them. This disrupts the flow of time and promotes emerging forms of rhythmic articulation without introducing any strong metrical stresses.

If the first movement is the researcher/composer’s response to heaven’s unchanging time, then the second movement - “In the Street” - uses a compositional process that crowds the listener with myriad streams of ideas so overwhelming that he/she is eventually unable to perceive them as separate entities but is very aware of the strong metrical stresses that are generated.

The third movement presents both heavenly and earthly time, perhaps prefacing an eventual resolution. But their musical materials come from fundamentally irreconcilable time worlds, and the music therefore speaks mostly of conflict and anarchy rather than resolution or even complementarity.

"The Discovery of Heaven" was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic and the London Philharmonic orchestras. It was first performed in London’s Royal Festival Hall in 2012 and will receive its New York premiere in the current season. A commercial recording by the LPO is available. "The Discovery of Heaven" is published by Faber Music.