Two Minutes to Midnight
Files
Abstract
I composed a four movement suite that was inspired by issues that have come out of tensions in the political and social climates in the world, particularly in the United States. I used the symbol of The Doomsday Clock, which was created by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, as an overarching theme for my suite. This theme being the impeding threat of global nuclear war. In the suite I wanted to highlight the atrocities of war and gun violence through the tone of the music. Each movement was paired with either a painting or photography depicting the powerful imagery of war and gun violence. I used paintings by Goya and Picasso in my first and third movement. My second movement was inspired by photos taken on the day of the school shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School. I used a collection of photos by Wim Wenders for the fourth movement of the suite. The purpose of the suite was to highlight these very powerful issues but also to inspire and unify people. I decided to end the suite on a more positive note to instill the idea of hope in the listener.
Publication Date
7-1-2018
Campus
Boston Campus
Recommended Citation
Hart, Samuel. “Two Minutes to Midnight.” Master's thesis, Berklee College of Music, 2018. https://remix.berklee.edu/graduate-studies-global-jazz/56.
Comments
Project Components: paper (.pdf), presentation (ZIP file containing 1 .pdf document, 2 .mp4 files), audio files (ZIP file containing 4 .wav files), scores (.pdf).