Recurring Dreams. (Original composition);.

Abstract

Recurring Dreams is a symphonic work in one movement for full orchestra. Inspired by the composer's own dreams, the piece attempts to portray the repetitive yet reinterpretive nature of recurring dreams through theme and variations. By means of a gradual layering of gentle, rocking motives and a tonality suggestive of Chopin's Berceuse in D-flat major, op. 57, the opening section invokes a mood of sleep and dreams. This portion of the piece functions as the seedbed of the ensuing variations, acting not only as a source of pitch, motive, gesture and process, but also serving as an image foreshadowing both the individual variations and, more importantly, the shape of the work as a whole. Following without pause (and at brisk tempi) are eight variations, each more depictive of rapid eye movement (REM) than of undisturbed slumber. While the individual sections are fleeting, each subsequent variation or "recurrence" is at once faster and longer (in real time) than its predecessor. This accelerando and telescoping of form is supported by an increasing density of orchestral texture which leads to an abrupt semi-cadence and the only real silence in the work. The piece concludes with a simple rendering of pitch material used throughout the work, now portrayed as the melody of a lyric slumber song. Harmonized diatonically, it drifts off to a tranquil conclusion in G-flat major.