Today's music is an orchestral work by composer John Luther Adams. I will gladly admit that this might not be for everyone - and it is a long piece. However, it is a piece I frequently sink into, just letting myself drift away really following the instruction from the title: Become Ocean. It is a droning piece, which means that there isn't much in terms of very obvious melodic structure, but it is heavy on dynamics and changing timbre, and there is really a lot going on under the surface - and as I wrote that, I realized how apt that really is for this piece of music. There is so much more than initially meets the ear, and if you are patient, you may indeed be rewarded, provided you keep an open mind.
Become Ocean earned John Luther Adams a Pulitzer Prize in music, which I didn't know existed before hearing about it on NPR a year ago, maybe two - and that's really how I came in touch with it. I am so completely fascinated with everything going on here - and I keep discovering new things in the very dense composition.
I encourage you to take about 42 minutes out of your otherwise busy day and try to follow this orchestral work all around. All the way from the swell in the beginning to the quieter moments interspersed throughout, until the swell finally subsides in the end. Take the time to truly Become Ocean.
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