As the great Igor Stravinsky once said, “Music praises God…it is the Church’s greatest ornament.” My composition aspires to do just this – to praise God while telling the story outlined in the program notes, which I derived from Pastor Evans’ messages and relevant biblical text. The work is thirteen minutes in length and set in three continuous movements; Remnant, Rain and Return. Remnant depicts a battle between good and evil, represented by two contrasting themes that interrupt and eventually overlap each other. The movement concludes with the removal of the remnant, a symbolic gesture of the Rapture. Movement II, Rain, features a rainstorm, utilizing extended techniques and body percussion, and then transitions to a dark theme in Eb Phrygian. This movement is a “throwback” to the last time the Earth was destroyed – documented in the book of Genesis which details the legendary story of Noah, the Ark and the Great Flood. Return begins with musical figures that mimic an ancient shofar, and eventually culminates in the reconciliation of all instruments as they play Nicaea, the tune from the hymn Holy, Holy, Holy in celebration of the return of Jesus Christ to the Earth.
