Premiered at Pepperdine University, April 8th 2017 by Louise Lofquist, piano

This piece was originally conceived as the beginning of a sonata on the theme of the apocalypse. I have always been fascinated by the study of religions; particularly their eschatology. This work was specifically inspired by the Revelation of John, with its effective drama and social commentary. This piece also happens to be based on one of the very first pieces I ever composed, though in its current form the work has been expanded extensively.

There is a basic programmatic outline to the work: the Adagio section in the beginning is the lament; a sort of solemn weeping for the souls of the damned in the wake of indiscriminate divine punishment. The chromatic sextuplet figure that follows could be likened to the trumpeting of the archangels—heralds of the coming judgment. The middle section is a lament in its own way: where the Adagio section represents the world’s damned lamenting their collective fate, this section is a more internal, personal lament: perhaps a single, inconsolable stranger on an empty street.