The Future of Life

Download Preview PDFs

Download a non-printing preview version of the score. Download “The Future of Life for SATB chorus, trombone, piano: preview” pjm-futureoflife-preview-sm.pdf – Downloaded 3186 times – 1.67 MB

Download the trombone part, print-enabled. Download “The Future of Life for chorus - trombone part” pjm-futureoflife-trb.pdf – Downloaded 2890 times – 878.14 KB

Notes

In The Future of Life, the chorus sings a message from Pullitzer Prize winner and famed entomologist and conservation biologist Dr. Edward O. Wilson – the need to preserve the world’s biodiversity.

The eight movements range from a conversation with Henry David Thoreau on the state of the natural world today, a warning and invitation to protect habitat now instead of later in “Pay Mother Her Due”, and a poetic vision of species distribution in “How Spiders Came to Hawaii”. Two additional texts, “Bee-Song” by poet Anne Baring and “Grand Grand Mother is returning” by Judy Grahn, celebrate nature and humanity. The music strikes a balance between warning and hope. Dr. Wilson believes there is hope, if we decide that biodiversity matters to us and we act very soon to protect all of life.

More about The Future of Life

Read more about:

• The texts
• Notes on individual movements
• Notes on creating the piece for The Master Singers

The composer writes:

“I found deep inspiration in E.O. Wilson’s book The Future of Life. He writes with passion and built-in poetry about a topic that really concerns me. I hope when you hear the music, you will want to get Dr. Wilson’s book and think about these issues.”

Listen

Listen to an MP3 of excerpts of the The Future of Life, with The Master Singers, Adam Grossman conducting. Hear all the movements on the Spindrift Listening page.