The Sky Came Down

The Sky Came Down –Film score from the Film The Sky Came Down
Inspired by the Tornado of 1912 which devastated the city of Regina, Saskatchewan June 30, 1912, the work is a dramatic, programmatic, symphonic journey depicting the pain, sorrow and devastation of this historic event. I wrote incorporated a Kyrie Eleison (Lord have Mercy) at the end of the work given the individuals who lived through this horrific event rose with great strength as a community and rebuilt the city. This is true in every disaster as it is when the humanity of people is at its greatest. To realize we are but "one" of the totality of the sum. And without community we are but one alone in the world!

The Sky Came Down – Film – 2013 produced by Laura Pettigrew Publications, Production, Etc. Inc. Won Best Overall Production, Reel Rave International Film Festival: Award of Merit, Best Shorts Competition and nominee, Golden Sheaf Awards.

A Terra (Earth) written with the assistance of a grant from the Saskatchewan Arts Board for MASSIVE BRASS ATTACK under the direction of Sergio Carolino, Principal Tuba Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música www.casadamusica.com Porto, Portugal. The work was premiered, March 18, 2013, Porto High School of Music and Arts Festival at the Helena Sá e Costa Theater. It was recorded live November 16, 2013, in video/audio and broadcast on YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9u5FIWxY78k. Further on February 25, 2014 “A Terra” was recorded live to DVD by Massive Brass Attack and broadcast worldwide 9:30 p.m. WET via Internet on www.classicalplanet.com

Ewfas - World premiere March 8, 2013. International Women's Day. Written for Foothills Brass, Calgary Alberta with the assistance of a grant from the Saskatchewan Arts Board. - Brass quintet with percussion. Ewfas is word I contrived from the essential elements we require to exist: Earth, Wind, Fire, Air and Space. As a programmatic work it also represents the elements of metal, wood and water given it was written for brass and percussion.

The philosophy behind the five elements and their use for healing purposes is that everything in the world is made up of a combination of them and through this inter-connectivity everything has certain characteristics that are linked to the elements. Therefore as a visual person my intent was to aurally paint a picture for the listener evoking the images in my mind and eye and the emotion in my soul as they relate to the elements and the strength of the human spirit as a whole.

"Ewfas” - Each Woman Who Faces Adversity Sustains Strength, Survives, Succeeds - As a woman composer it was also important that the work represent women, our innate need to nurture and our strength to excel and succeed in our chosen path in life and also as mothers.


1. Earth - mother earth in all her majesty the elements of which sustain and nourish us beings.

2. Wind, a seminal force when harnessed provides a source of energy used for power, communications and pumping water. Wind pollination (anemophily) is a derived condition in flowering plants and has arisen independently in numerous families. Charles Darwin was perplexed by the evolution of this seemingly inefficient pollination mechanism from animal pollination, and yet this transition is commonplace among angiosperm families. Wind pollination has evolved at least 65 times from animal-pollinated ancestors, and approx. 10 % of angiosperm species rely on wind pollination

3. Fire is one of the four classical elements in ancient Greek philosophy and science and commonly associated with the qualities of energy, assertiveness and passion. Fire is hot and dry in temperament, and its role in nature is to refine, and inter-mingle things. It has the power to penetrate and can ride through the element of air and the capacity to overcome the coldness of the two cold elements, earth and water, thus creates and maintains harmony among the elements.

4. Air - oxygen the very chemical element we as beings require to live. Nearly all the Earth’s atmosphere is made up of only five gases: nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor, argon, and carbon dioxide and 99 percent of air is made up of nitrogen and oxygen. Several other compounds are also present.

Air - oxygen / metal - brass instruments - used to create the most majestic palette of colours known only to the family of brass instruments. Through a composers work, brass instrumentalists utilizing the full spectrum of hues and colours evoke emotion allowing the listener to experience the intent of the composer's work.

5. Space - as an element of art, space refers to distances or areas around, between or within components of a Space. It’s a strange and different element. It’s just there. We can’t see it, we can’t touch it, and we can’t say how far it extends. We can’t even say what, if anything, it’s made of. According to Einstein it expands and contracts depending on what velocity we’re moving at, and it gets bent out of shape by the presence of solid matter. Einstein, in one of his less mathematical and more religious moments stated "A human being is part of a whole, called by us the “Universe” a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts, and feelings, as something separated from the rest a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness"

It is imperative that we fully appreciate the inter-connectivity of the elements for without same we would not exist. For it is wood that generates fire, fire generates earth, earth generates metal, metal generates water and water then generates wood. This is the circle of life so to speak, it is endless.


Dance of Life - Commissioned by Andy Anderson - World Premiere October 19, 2013 RSO Chamber Ensemble
The 1st mvt represents life as a whole the joy, sadness and love we experience as we travel our path in life. In writing I thought a lot about my own life, the trials and tribulations, fear, joy, depression and of course love and strength of conviction that has brought me to this point in life. A young student of mine who listened to the movement was in tears stating she could feel my pain, love, joy and how I have triumphed against all odds. At that point I realized as a composer I had fulfilled my purpose, to touch one's soul!
The 2nd mvt is set with an ostinato starting on c# to represent the force of life as it flows through the entire movement, a binding force in all our relationships. The key centers are based on specific words which relate to love and dance. Key Centers G = gradh which means love in Scottish Gaelic, D = Dance/daonnan When the hemiola appears the short melody depicts how life always has Its interruptions which throw us off balance but we always manage to land on our feet.
The 3rd movement given it is a jig I chose key centers which related to Scottish Gaelic words and also to depict that Life in and of itself is a Dance, one we need to appreciate and to enjoy every moment! - gradh (pronounced graw or gaol pronounced gool which both mean love in Scottish Gaelic
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Freya - solos flute and piano - written for Erika Mueller, phenomenal student and prodigy - premiered May 2010 Winner of the Provincial Centennial Scholarship - Total scholarship won in 2010 - $3,000.00. Currently completing a degree Business, on the Dean's List and accepted into Dentistry at the University of Saskatchewan. Erika is one of the most beautiful, loving, intelligent, compassionate young women I have had the pleasure of teaching. Therefore I wrote a piece to depict her beauty, compassion and passion for life. Based on the Norse Goddess Freya, the Goddess of love, beauty, fertility, war, wealth, divination and magic the work depicts the very elements and traits of Erika's personality thus my incorporation of rich harmonies and fluid lines.