A faint breeze transforms into a gale; the sound of a million rustling blades of dry grass accompany it. You open your eyes, and a landscape of golden hills—boundless as the sea—stretches before you. The hills begin—slowly at first—to churn in the wind, as if they really were waves upon a sea. They roll, cascade, tumble, and swell, until they reach colossal heights, merging with the blue, marbled sky.

Vision of a Flaxen Sea is a work for symphony orchestra that is inspired by numerous dreams, experiences, and works of art that concern the subject of hilled landscapes—particularly those that are swept by wind, and covered with dry grass or straw. In my mind, these landscapes, dreams, and works of art have a very literal musical quality to them. The aim of this work is to communicate that quality.

Winner of the James Highsmith Award for Orchestral Composition (2019).

If you are interested in performing this work and would like to obtain parts, please send me a message via the ‘Contact’ section of my website.