The Dreaming Union
for orchestra

Work no. 240
2023

I don't believe these pieces could ever be performed in concert – it's a studio concept through and through. They require a large orchestra with a couple of percussionists and an electric guitarist. They're formed out of complicated conjunctions of rhythms and would need many rehearsals. Every piece uses the entire orchestra, and multiple relistens are a must to comprehend the entire piece. Best of all – and worst of all – each piece is tiny, averaging between 10 and 25 seconds.

It's been years since I first read Brian Eno's comments on his work on the Windows 95 startup sound; how difficult it was for him to adjust to composing with milliseconds, and how after the project was done, normal durations seemed like "oceans of time." The Dreaming Union was a modest attempt at trying something similar – but the sound world is completely different, mid-20th century avant-garde rather than mid-90s electronics. Each piece is an independent work with its own beginning, middle, and end; they're meant to be listened to in random order, each work multiple times, to better understand what is happening in it.

The title is from Lawrence Durrell's The Alexandria Quartet.