Program Note

Lion’s Den was written during a period in my life when someone very close to me was battling cancer, and we were living far apart from one another. The work draws loose inspiration from the biblical story of Daniel in the lion’s den, but from the perspective of an observer: It draws on the emotional parallels of being unable to help or intervene in any meaningful way while knowing someone you love is suffering.

This piece sprang forth from those feelings of fear and helplessness. It is built on a persistent underlying drone and a single motivic gesture from which the music gradually unfolds. The melodic motif is often heard performed by a single, solitary voice, reflecting feelings of isolation, uncertainty, and loneliness, intensified by distance.

The musical materials used throughout are intentionally minimal. The frequent repetition and recurring ideas represent a mental fixation on this swirling pool of emotion. The piece is unable to look away from or move beyond this single emotional centre. Lion’s Den concludes much along these same lines, with an unaccompanied clarinet solo, fading to silence. The music does not resolve, but slips away, leaving behind only silence, stillness and emptiness.