Arches triptych

Allen, Sarah

Item

Arches triptych

Allen, Sarah

Date

2020-05-07

Abstract

Arches Triptych is a three-movement work, each movement musically exploring a different geological feature of Arches National Park: petrified sand dunes, balanced rock and arches. The central theme of the work is the unimaginable amount of time it took to shape the landscape we see today. Minimalist techniques, such as ostinatos, repeated figures and constant eighth-note motion represent this theme throughout the piece. The harmonic language throughout the work is largely tonal, representing not only the landscape itself, but also the experience witnessing it for the first time. Firm but freely shifting tonal centers, mediant key relations and long lyrical lines in combination with the ever-present ostinatos embody both the geological and experiential aspects of the park. The first movement represents the petrified sand dunes in the park. Inspired by the subtle, rolling texture of the landscape, a repetitive rhythm on a single pitch is featured, out of which slowly changing harmonies emerge and eventually blossom into a soaring melody made up of quartal and quintal intervallic leaps. The slower middle section depicts the night sky at Arches National Park, which is one of the darkest in the nation. Harmonics, bowed piano and percussion, and slowly emerging lines illustrate the sparkling tranquility and vast captivating nature of the night sky. The Second movement, entitled Balanced Rock, begins with twelve-tone counterpoint. The use of all twelve tones represents the park millions of years ago when the structures did not exist, at a time when the highest points we now see were once part of a flat landscape. The counterpoint gives way to a theme stated in planing fifths, characterizing the strength of the balanced rock structures that have endured through millions of years. The remainder of the movement contains a pulsating pitch underneath the long lyrical melodies, portraying the persistence of time. The final movement, Arches, contains a tonally ambiguous ostinato figure that is first presented in the piano and vibraphone. The interlocking, layered nature of the ostinato depicts the different types and layers of rock that formed over millions of years, resulting in the ability of the arch structures to remain after the rest of the rock had eroded away. Like the first two movements, a lyrical melodic line appears over the ostinato. At the end of this movement, the melodies from the first two movements combine with the third in the final measures to conclude the piece.