The Oracle (for flute/piccolo, Bb clarinet, violin, cello, and piano)

The 2016 work for flute/piccolo, Bb clarinet, violin, cello, and piano.

It is the third piece “The Oracle” that is the crème de la for me with its incredible depth and creative complexity. Dynamics take deep hold here with sudden bursts and calming moments. I really hear the room when flute and clarinet parts elevate along with the brilliant staccato keyboard hits. There are moments when time seems to fall apart and then strings back together in a wonderful interplay among the musicians. (source)

Using 50 tarot cards to create the framework, there is both an element of chance (in that the process of drawing the cards and their placement in the 5 separate tarot spreads, is all random) and an element of “foreordained knowledge” (or pre-compositional structure).

“The Oracle” has thus emerged as a multi-faceted, deeply layered, story-driven reflection of the human condition.

A tarot-based piece, The Oracle is based on a drawing of 50 of the tarot’s 78 cards, placed in five separate spreads. Furthermore, violin, flute, cello, and clarinet represent the Four Elements (Fire, Water, Air, and Earth, in that order), with the piano representing the Major Arcana (the so-called “trumps” of any suit). The implication is that one of the spreads is based on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life; piano octaves represent the Tree’s “branches.” There is a simple correlation between pitch and spiritual illumination: The higher the line, the closer one is to Kether, this highest plane of the Tree, and beyond (Divine Source). The actual piece is engaging, its surface active; heard in such a committed performance as this, the effect is huge. Again, the close recording helps with engagement. This 13-minute piece offers a variety of timbral plateaus, but most potent is its story-telling power (a prime constituent of the tarot’s pull, of course). (Colin Clarke, Fanfare Magazine)