BEYOND MAGIC

BEYOND MAGIC for concert band (grade 3)

Beyond Magic was composed in November 2021. I’ve always been fascinated with things that are outside of perception. Our perception of physical reality is limited to an extremely narrow band of frequencies. What we experience through our senses – hearing, vision, touch, etc. –  are all that we know of a much, much larger world. While technology has extended the range of our perception somewhat, we are still essentially blind to this bigger world. What about the invisible things that impact and shape our world? Can we afford to ignore what we cannot readily perceive? 

When primitive, isolated people first encountered advanced technologies, such as flashlights or cameras, they typically described them as magic. But technological advancement is relative. Technologies that are beyond our understanding are often considered magic or thought not to exist at all. This will be forever true. 

Beyond Magic has a mysterious character. It uses a harmonic sleight of hand that creates a slippery tonal fabric, one that slides easily among several centers. The work has a simple A-B-A' form, with A' inverting the counterpoint of the original A.         

– Steve Rouse