Colourful World - (20 minutes Running Time) - Full orchestra: 2222/4/321/3perc/strings
Published by Camden Music
In 2005 my son Seamus, then aged 6, gave me an extraordinary picture he called "Colourful world". This year he gave me an oil painting he'd done of the earth from space.
Kids have such amazing imaginations, and as I looked at Seamus's pictures, I began thinking of a concept for a piece-the earth as it would appear to a space traveller, this beautiful colourful globe,suspended in the darkness of space, overflowing with consciousness expressed in many different forms.
I then imagined the traveller landing and seeing different parts of the world close up, having experiences and falling in love with the place and it's people.He finally leaves the orbit of the earth,and looks back at the world,inspired and changed.
The solo trumpet links the sections together which are: Vision of
perfection-Teeming with life-Earth rhythms-Earth Romance-African
crossing-Prayer.
In the the final "prayer" section the strings take over and develops the trumpet theme, and this becomes a kind of prayer that the major governments > and corporations will come to their senses, and start to care for this beautiful colourful world,overflowing with diverse expressions of consciousness, in the way we should all care for it.
"Colourful world" is dedicated to Marin Alsop and the Cabrillo festival.