Chocolate Tidal Waves

A tortured-genius surgeon from a television show once said “it’s awful being a grownup. The carousel never stops turning. You can’t get off.” Chocolate Tidal Waves is my reflection on this sentiment. As we grow up, we lose that special lens that makes childhood magical. That which was magnificent is now mundane. With the loss of childhood naiveté comes the knowledge of what people bare on a daily basis: burnout, financial stress, loneliness. We also start to learn about the wrongs in our society such as racism, sexism, and homophobia. Every once in a while, I catch myself remembering how easy it was to be a kid, and how much of a rush I was in to grow up.

I believe music has a special connection to memories, and because of this, some of our earliest memories are the nursery rhymes sung to us in childhood. Many of these songs, however, have gloomy historical meanings hidden in the lyrics. “Ring Around the Rosie,” for example, is thought to depict the horrors of the bubonic plague. The lyrics describe the rashes that show up on the infected person’s body, and mention fragrant flowers that were used to mask the smell of death and decay. Another song, “Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary,” has had a number of historical meanings attributed to it. One of these meanings hearkens back to Mary I of England, also known as “Bloody Mary.” Some believe the lyrics depict her lack of heirs, and her unsuccessful attempt to reverse the English Reformation through the execution of Protestants. The child-like whimsy of these songs and their grim hidden meanings that we learn later in life represent the loss of this childhood view of the world. These melodies occur throughout the work and appear in many forms, from playful to menacing.

I evoke memories from my own childhood throughout the work as well. The gesture in the opening mimics the sound my family’s Hammond organ made when you turn the engine off while depressing a cluster of keys. Following sections evoke music from slap-stick cartoons and video game cues. The use of harp, celeste, glockenspiel, and xylophone portray the sounds of children’s toys, further exacerbated if the optional ratchet is used.

While we navigate the carousel of life, let us feel the nostalgia of a simpler time as we face the weight of the world.

Reading session with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra