Dithyramb - 2019

Written for the “Mostly Macabre” concert on Halloween of 2019. Dithyramb is an ode to Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, ritualistic ceremonies, ecstasy, dance, and utter madness. This music encapsulates a descent into Dionysian madness – into the occult itself – in a quasi fugal form. Whatever structure was first created by the opening fugue section is lost when the instruments begin to obsess over motivic development and almost entirely forget form. The instruments break out into wild dance in the form of hyper-contrapuntality – completely ignoring consonant harmony and, instead, basking in complete dissonance.