Orchestra ● Spring 2020 ● 9:40
"One Sows for the Benefit of Another Age" is the English translation of North Dakota's Latin motto, "Serit ut alteri saeclo prosit." I knew I wanted to make use of the idea of illumination, of dawn. I wanted to start in the shadows and end aglow. The darkness was such a defining feature that my working title was Aegri Somnia, loosely translated as "troubled dreams." As I continued working, I realized that the focus wasn't the darkness--the focus was the change from darkness to light.
Change comes in different flavors. Transformative change is massive, radical, sweeping change, like winning the lottery. Iterative change is about small changes that build up over time. It requires intention and action, and it doesn't reap immediate benefits. It may not end up benefitting US at all.
One Sows changes iteratively. It starts from a dark place, but is sprinkled with seeds of hope. A descending motive introduced in the violins brings us out of the darkness, albeit slowly. The idea spreads, develops, and eventually becomes part of a new idea. A new paradigm. A new day.