Wasteland (2024)

Program notes:
The piece’s inspiration is T. S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land”, a poem that explores themes of decay and desolation, death and rebirth, mysticism and religion. The poem’s symbolism of the tumultuous human condition contrasts with a solid, imposing structure that stands immovably. One can conceive such a structure as a monolith, something still and immutable, a constant amid the chaos and disintegration described in the poem.

The piece mirrors the division into five sections found in Eliot’s poem: “The Burial of the Dead”, a barren and lifeless landscape;

“A Game of Chess”, as a metaphor for human relationships; “The Fire Sermon”, a picture of spiritual decay; “Death by Water”,

an image of drowning as a symbol of purification and rebirth; “What the Thunder Said”, a search for meaning and redemption.