Premiered by the Peabody Conductor's Orchestra

Conductor: Michael Djabarov

The premiere of this piece took place on Oct. 28 in Miriam A. Friedberg Concert Hall at Peabody Conservatory.

Composition note:

In the sea crimson like fire, I experimented with using a form based on the motion of waves in a body of water. Unlike my previous pieces, which follow a more process-based, teleological form, the sea crimson like fire is characterized by alternating states of stasis and activity. For me, the static elements (sustained high string notes) represent water at rest, while the more active elements are the waves. The piece is made up of a series of musical events that trigger other events. For instance, each time the harp plucks a note, another part of the orchestra responds in turn. The idea of musical events having a cause/effect relationship was inspired by the ripple effect on a body of water’s surface when it is disturbed.

The title is taken from the last chapter of Ulysses by James Joyce:

…and O that awful deepdown torrent O and the sea the sea crimson sometimes like fire and the glorious sunsets and the figtrees in the Alameda gardens yes and all the queer little streets and pink and blue and yellow houses and the rosegardens and the jessamine and geraniums and cactuses and Gibraltar as a girl where I was a Flower of the mountain yes...