Contents

The Proposal ..........................................................................................................................................iv


Introduction & Remarks ........................................................................................................................v

The Analysis ..........................................................................................................................................vii

The Score .......................................................................................................................................1

PART ONE.........................................................................................................................3

OVERTURE ........................................................................................................................5


CHILDREN PLAY ...........................................................................................................32


LUCY MEETS MR. TUMNUS ......................................................................................57

ENCOUNTER ..................................................................................................................83

PART TWO ................................................................................................................... 101

INTERLUDE ..................................................................................................................103

GIFTS ..............................................................................................................................105


EVIL ABODE .................................................................................................................114


SLAVE .............................................................................................................................137

THE STONE TABLE ..................................................................................................... 143

THE PRICE ....................................................................................................................162


LIGHT OF LOVE ..........................................................................................................164

POST TENEBRAS ......................................................................................................... 173

LUX! ................................................................................................................................189

THE BATTLE .................................................................................................................202


THE DEATH OF WINTER .........................................................................................246


LIGHT AND STONE ....................................................................................................251


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The Proposal
My graduate project consists of a work for small orchestra and ballet. This will be an active
collaboration between myself and two choreographers in Jackson, Mississippi. Together, we will
collaborate on music, movement, and give constructive feedback towards each other’s work. This
piece will culminate in two premiers, one given in the Fall of 2018 (the first half) and then in the
Spring of 2019 (the complete revised work).

The instrumentation is as follows:




1 Flute (doubling Piccolo)

1 Oboe (doubling English Horn)

1 Clarinet in B-flat (doubling Bass Clarinet)

1 Bassoon



2 Horns in F

1 Trumpet in B-flat



Timpani



Violin I

Violin II

Viola

Cello

Double Bass

The subject material mutually agreed upon will be the Narnia mythology presented and written
by C.S. Lewis in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The music is incidental to this storyline
and the choreography is an interpretive storyline based on this mythology.

The greatest task is forming musical continuity as well as underscoring the movement in the
ballet. Open communication through email, text, and google drive is the primary means by which
continuity will be created. The work will be approximately 40 minutes.


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Introduction & Remarks
Stone and Light is the byproduct of a loving friendship between two choreographers and dancers
in Jackson, Mississippi and myself. They were Laura Morton and Rachel Jager. I worked closely
with these two dancers while I was staff accompanist at Belhaven University in 2017. While I was
there, I accompanied classical and modern ballet/dance, and learned a great deal about the art-
form and fell in love with the bond between music and dance. There had been discussion of
“writing pieces,” and “collaboration,” and there were early interactions regarding collaboration.

Shortly after I was accepted to Florida Atlantic University (hereafter FAU), I expressed to one of
the choreographers that I wanted to work in the future, possibly in a very significant way. It was
always our intention to work together, and so we kept communication open.

Shortly after arriving to FAU I spoke to Laura about a symphonic ballet. I mentioned I wanted it
to become my Graduate Project, and so we began talks about subject matter. Before long, we had
settled on the C.S. Lewis narrative in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

I spoke with my instructor Dr. Kevin Wilt and he advised that, because of the scope of the project
and the size of the collaboration, I should keep my instrumentation focused into chamber-like
qualities.

The first version of the first half was written in the Fall of 2018. Revisions were made to the score,
followed by feedback and timelines for the second half. The second half was written earlier in the
Spring of 2019, with revisions throughout the semester. Final edits were sent to the collaborators
for the premiers which were earlier in April of 2019.

There were several hurdles and problems that had to be overcome:

1. The distance between my collaborators and I was more than 15 hours, and so open
communication had to be utilized through google drive, texts, and phone conversations. This
was challenging, as there were many aspects of our roles which are hard to discuss in
intermittent communication lines.

2. The timing of the music directly affects the movement, and so while movement was being
constructed in the absence of music, there had to be many re-writes and modifications after
the fact to serve the good of the choreography.

3. Unlike traditional ballet, there was a blend of modern and classical, which made traditional
music forms (such as waltzes, codas, and pas de deux) undesirable. This means composition
had to be free and influenced by the goals of the choreography in total, rather than being
influenced by a classical form and structure.

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These concerns were also magnified by another revision to the essential timing of the work.
Midway through the Spring of 2019 I received messages saying that the pre-agreed timing of a 40
minute ballet was much too short. Movement was being crafted for the second half that was too
short, making the ballet and various movements seem trite and rushed. Given this issue, the ballet
had to be lengthened by 10-20 minutes. This brought the overall timing of the work to nearly 60
minutes.

In addition, there were portions of movement that were already “set” by the dancers which could
not be modified. But, these same movements were part of section of music that needed to be
lengthened. My task became that of a music editor more than a composer in these moments,
finding the best way to hide the seams in the music by being creative with motivic material and
chord progressions.

The piece was premiered with outstanding success, and received four showings at a dance concert
in Jackson, Mississippi. From the feedback I received, it received standing ovations at all of the
concerts.

Unfortunately, at the time of this document, there was no video recording of this work released.


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The Analysis
Stone and Light is broken into two sections, Part One and Part Two. There is a short
intermission between the two sections. Part One was choreographed primarily by Laura
Morton, and Part Two was primarily choreographed by Rachel Jager. Each section reflects this
change, as there are longer movement of music in the first half, but fewer numbers of them,
while the second half has more movements, but they are generally shorter.

The topics in each movement were decided by the choreographers. The movement titles were
decided by myself.

Overture
This was designed to be an exposé of the characters. Laura and I agreed that this section would
not be an overture of all the themes present in the musical work, but an exposition of
characters. Unlike a traditional overture, there was dance during this movement. There is an
opening theme which represents Aslan (the Lion) creating the world and Narnia. There is a
second section which contrasts with this character as the Witch, where the character is much
colder and diabolical.

Children Play
This is the first glimpse of the children the audience gets. There are four siblings, Peter, Susan,
Edmund, and Lucy. They are playing in a house. The music reflects this playfulness with bright
harmonic colors, pizzicatos, and quick tempi. There are moments of play and hide-and-seek,
where musically the children are sneaking around each other. Towards the middle of this
movement there is a shift in play to discovery. At this point, Lucy finds a wardrobe and
discovers Narnia. The end of this movement is a confluence of themes from where the children
were playing in reality in the house and where Lucy is finding Narnia.

Lucy Meets Mr. Tumnus

This movement is the first interaction any of the children have with Narnia. Lucy discovers the
lamppost, and is curious, yet pensive about her new found world. Lucy begins to play in snow,
as she does not yet know that it is forever winter. This is also the first solo of the work. Partway
through this movement she bumps into Mr. Tumnus (represented by the bassoon). They

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develop a primitive friendship. As they are dancing away, Edmund enters Narnia, which can be
heard by the oboe.

Encounter
During this movement, Edmund encounters the witch for the first time. The witch is a very evil
person, but is very pleasant to Edmund. The music reflects this, as there is a teasing and
deceptive melody represented by the English horn. Edmund is seduced, while a split timeline
develops. Lucy leaves Narnia to convince the other two siblings, Peter and Susan, to come to
Narnia. Elements of Children Play comes back as Lucy makes her way back to the scene where
her siblings are still playing. There is an argument about this, and all of it is happening while
Edmund has been taken away with the Queen.

This is the end of Part One.

Interlude
After intermission there is a brief amount of music to transition back to the ballet. This music is
preparing for a much darker portion of the ballet, and there is no dancing in this piece.

Gifts
Peter, Susan, and Lucy enter Narnia, and find the Beavers. They learn of the Lion, Aslan, the
terrible conflict between the Lion and the Witch, and in this moment, learn that they should
meet Aslan. The Beavers depart them with gifts, and tell them that Edmund is likely with the
Witch. Peter, Susan, and Lucy set out to find Edmund and Aslan.

Evil Abode
The Narnian creatures appear in this movement, and the Witch Freezes them, She does this as a
short solo, before her chief henchman Maugrim dances a pas de deux. This is a wicked and
twisted movement with lots of maniacal laughter and off-kilter musical moments.

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Slave
This short movement is the realization that Edmund is enslaved to the Witch, that it is not all
fun and games, and that he’s doomed. He is enslaved as the result of not being able to bring his
siblings to the Witch.

The Stone Table

The Beaver leads the children to Aslan. The Narnian creatures and sprites dance a little while
the children are introduced to Aslan. During the same scene, the stage is split between the
children explaining the problem and being in awe of Aslan and the Witch threatening to kill
Edmund. Maugrim is sent to spy and be on the lookout. He encounters Aslan's court and fights
Peter. During the fight, the Witch and Aslan make eye contact and "face off " around perimeter.
Maugrim dies during this movement

The Price
This movement is the realization that Aslan will have to make a sacrifice to spare Edmunds life.
Themes from The Stone Table appear during this time.

Light of Love
This is a pas de trois between Aslan and the girls. This is a moment of great sadness as the
children realize that Aslan must die to save Edmunds life.

Post Tenebras
Here, the Witch in her demented and twisted desires, approaches Aslan to kill him. She does
this while taunting him and violently lashing out against him He is killed behind a veil. During
this time, the children are watching nearby. Halfway through this movement, there is great
mourning, and a quasi Chaconne signals the period mourning for Aslan. It seems that hope is
lost.

Lux!
Alsan resurrects to life after his blameless sacrifice for Edmunds life. Here is a solo, followed by
the children coming back to see him.

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The Battle
Aslan brings the Narnian creatures back to life and assembles them with the children to go into
battle against the Witch and her minions. This is an extensive movement that was written with
extensions to the score. The music here is far less descriptive and more of an underscoring
technique used in film composition. There are over 30 people on stage interacting with each
other in battles. There are simultaneous duets and trios happening in concert with the larger
battle.

The Death of Winter

Here, the Witch is killed with the final roar of Aslan, and there is great celebration. There is an
immediate transition to a crowning ceremony of Aslan and the Children. During this
movement, Aslan walks with the children back to the lamp post where the children discover
the real world again, and stumble back into the house.

Light and Stone

Here the children come to a full realization of what has happened, and they dance together in
the real world. Thematic material is brought back from the very beginning of the work, from
the Overture, and while they dance, Aslan is seen in parallel initiating the movements of the
children in Narnia.

Harmonic Overview

The harmonic analysis of this work is extensive, but it can be largely reduced to a few schemes:
Pragmatism, Underscoring, and Ostinato. Much of the harmony was chosen to be deliberately
abrasive and vague in their meaning. For instance, quartal harmony was often used to create
the effect of suspension and delayed resolution in the underpinning movement and scene
choreography. Instruments and their timbre were also a part of this scheme, as a small child
was better represented by a small instrument (rather than a large one). As a whole, pragmatism
was used extensively.

When it comes to the technique of underscoring, I borrowed this from film scoring techniques.
Because the choreography was not traditional, using traditional movement structures was out
of the picture. There were not waltzes, etc, and so underscoring was used as a technique and
effect to help propel the choreography towards the intended goal without the normal help of

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pre-existing structures in a traditional ballet. An example of this is The Battle. Musically it is
very simple and lacks traditional compositional means for exploring textures and motives, but
the choreography was so busy that exacting traditional musical structures was not appropriate
for the movement.

Ostinato was another technique utilized. It is similar to underscoring, except that there is
greater control over the motivic development and counterpoint. For example, Ostinato was
utilized during the Witch’s first appearance in Encounter. The strings played a cyclical rhythms
and technique while the English horn developed melodically.

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