UNLESS (2012)
chamber orchestra
c. 8 minutes
Premiered by The Wooster Symphony Orchestra (Jeffrey Lindberg, conductor)
McGaw Chapel, Wooster, OH, 1 March 2013
c. 8 minutes
Premiered by The Wooster Symphony Orchestra (Jeffrey Lindberg, conductor)
McGaw Chapel, Wooster, OH, 1 March 2013
UNLESS is a single-movement piece for chamber orchestra based on Dr. Seuss’ classic children’s story, The Lorax (1971). The tale describes the Once-ler, who greedily manipulates the environment around him and destroys the world of the Lorax and his friends. When the Lorax is finally forced to abandon his home, he leaves behind a pile of rocks, upon which is written a single word: UNLESS. This work takes the perspective of the aged Once-ler and evokes the gloomy, forsaken landscape he inhabits, his remorse for his former selfishness, and his hope that the Lorax might one day return.
The piece opens with a bass clarinet solo marked by tritones and descending half steps. This theme, which represents the Once-ler’s memory of the Lorax, becomes the foundation of the entire work. It reappears several times in the A clarinet, bass clarinet, and strings, but is often hidden beneath more prominent melodies. The first repetition of the Lorax theme occurs immediately in the bass clarinet and contrabass at measure 7, but it is layered beneath the other woodwinds, which evoke the dreary landscape. The theme returns twice more and is passed around the string section, but again it is disguised by other motifs on top of it. The music then departs from the initial theme and crescendos to its climax, only to come tumbling down, just as the Lorax’s last tree falls in the story. Here is the only other time we hear the Lorax theme in its original form: the bass clarinet solo returns with short interjections by the celli, contrabasses, and timpani. This is the last time that the Once-ler sees the Lorax, and as soon as his theme ends, the music returns to the same gloominess that characterized the opening of the piece. A variation of the Lorax theme soon appears in the A clarinet, and the initial tritone is replaced by a perfect fourth. With this alteration, the music grows peaceful, and the piece ends with hope.
The piece opens with a bass clarinet solo marked by tritones and descending half steps. This theme, which represents the Once-ler’s memory of the Lorax, becomes the foundation of the entire work. It reappears several times in the A clarinet, bass clarinet, and strings, but is often hidden beneath more prominent melodies. The first repetition of the Lorax theme occurs immediately in the bass clarinet and contrabass at measure 7, but it is layered beneath the other woodwinds, which evoke the dreary landscape. The theme returns twice more and is passed around the string section, but again it is disguised by other motifs on top of it. The music then departs from the initial theme and crescendos to its climax, only to come tumbling down, just as the Lorax’s last tree falls in the story. Here is the only other time we hear the Lorax theme in its original form: the bass clarinet solo returns with short interjections by the celli, contrabasses, and timpani. This is the last time that the Once-ler sees the Lorax, and as soon as his theme ends, the music returns to the same gloominess that characterized the opening of the piece. A variation of the Lorax theme soon appears in the A clarinet, and the initial tritone is replaced by a perfect fourth. With this alteration, the music grows peaceful, and the piece ends with hope.