The Temple of Cybele
Angels With Dirty Faces
Till the End of Time With You
Fantastic Reverie
Sweet Nothings
Farewell to a Time
Mother’s Lament
The Good Life
The Waltz at Wang’s Wedding
Otherworld Traveler
Except for a few short-term temp jobs during the summer
of 2007, I’d been unemployed since being laid off of my former job
the previous December. At the same time, I’d had some major expenses
that year: Mom’s funeral, the vacation with Dad and my sister, the
paying off of a big chunk of credit card debt, the purchases of a king-sized
bed, flat TV and air conditioner. As a result of all this, by September,
I had already gone through most of the money from my severance package.
At least I was in action, going to the agencies, sending my resume out,
going on interviews, taking tests, etc. I also managed to find time to start
working on a new piece. Using the ethnic sounding #48 mode, a Major Phrygian
with the 7th raised, I was aiming for something melancholy and ethereal.
After a week or so, I had a couple of different themes I was developing.
A couple weeks after that, I had a finished piece. Otherworld Traveler
begins with a cantabile melody in regular major tonality. Following a transitional
section, this melody returns, but in middle eastern guise. Finally, the
piece ends joyfully with a short middle eastern dance.
As I was composing this piece, I thought back on my mother and how she had
passed away earlier in the year. Although it was sad to see her leaving
us, I had been struck with how peaceful she looked toward the end, and how
mysterious it is, this death and dying. During Mom’s final days, I
had a powerful sense that her spirit was in the hospital room with us, even
though her body was by this time completely unresponsive. And when she took
her last breath, I felt in some tangible way that she hadn’t really
died at all, but had merely gone off to some new place, the next destination
in her continuing, eternal existence.
