Redwood (Nathan Kelly)

Redwood opens with a "pedal point" on Ab, that expands in its intensity and stretches its melodic limbs ever-upward, frequently using intervals of the 7th and 9th in its mighty twists and turns, as it infuses brief contrasting moments of alternating powerful and delicate textures that display a somber and majestic dissonant beauty. The expansive tuttis mark  promiment, rentlessly unfurling musical material writhing and aching with intensity and passion that fearlessly clash branch out -- above, below and in-between -- balancing registral development with motivic seeds of growing contrapuntal figuration and ornamentation that evolve into dense, complex textures and overlapping, competing voices. The churning and undulating fluidity of multiple stratifications of voices explore the enormous and awesome colorful orchestral range and dark tessitura of the orchestra, like a fitting musical portrait of our towering
national treasures, the great Redwoods.  
 These massive pillars of old are unmovable monuments that harbor in their sheer enormity a wisdom and fine delicately detailed history of the ancient universe, conveying a solemn strength that seemed to call for great breath and thunderously shaking moments of musical roots that grow hellishly deep and downwards, yet are invisible to us as we only see their incredible topography above the soil. This is a work of contrasting shimmering, delicate moments and also a relentless, constantly yearning, dissonant ascent towards clangorous climaxes and long melodic limbs.