About this work:
BY STEAM OR BY DREAM is an in-your-face and celebratory concert opener (or closer), influenced in equal parts by Ludwig van Beethoven and Arthur C. Clarke. The piece is dedicated to Mr. Clarke, whose novels I happen to be a huge fan of.
The rhythm feel is similar to a Beethoven scherzo – built on a fast-paced and relentless 3/4 meter that never lets up. The first theme is a friendly and tonal C major melody, initially portrayed by solo bassoon over a pizzicato background, with a moderately Victorian steam-age feel, occasionally interrupted by industrial interjections from the winds and brass.
The second major theme of the piece is a nasty little bit of chromaticism that features a repetitive and slightly snotty melody over a march feel. The trombones lay out the marching chords on the first pass, and then the full string section take them the second time around, with an aggressive set of crunching down bows.
And all along, working behind the scenes and raising its head now and again is a lyrical, pastoral, chorale-like line, evolving a little bit more each time it appears, until it eventually morphs into a rising and heroic major-key figure in the horns.
The formal structure is where the Arthur C. Clarke part comes in. As in a Clarke novel, all of our travels, adventures and experiences eventually lead us to an unexpected place of wonder and mystery. In my piece, that’s the coda – entering suddenly without warning, moving quickly into uncharted territory, and then accelerating onward into the night, with barely enough time for a quick fly-by of home on our way to the unknown.