Convergence (2016)
3.2.3.3-3.3.3.1-timp., 3pc. pf/cel. harp-strings | 10'
Convergence was inspired by William Butler Yeats' 1919 poem, "The Second Coming" - in particular, the visceral imagery of its opening lines:
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Despite its pessimistic view of history and current events (Yeats was reacting against the Russian Revolution), the poem concludes with a glimpse of hope, whether ironic or sincere: an image of creation, rather than destruction:
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
I am fascinated with this seeming paradox of finding newness within something old, or creation within destruction. This concept has been found present through science (the "big bang" leading to our universe) and is also one of the central concepts of many religions, including Christianity (death leading to resurrection).
At its outset, Convergence paints the imagery of Yeats' scene; the natural order of things begins to break apart. We start to see all things converging toward a coming catastrophe. Time accelerates, building up intensity in waves. However, we begin to hear groups of these waves as part of a larger, rising wave; creation rises from destruction. We are floating through a series of windows, and as each one collapses, a new one is born.