Duration: 18 min
Minimum orchestra required: 2 fl(picc), 2 ob(EH), 2 cl, 2bsn, 3 trp, 4 hrn, 3 trb, tba, 3 perc, timp, harp, strings
1348 was the worst year of the plague. The population of medieval Europe was nearly cut in half over the course of a few years. There are many strange parallels between the 14th century and our own: a belief that the apocalypse is near, a surge in religious fundamentalism, an unexplained and incurable pestilence. I would just refer the curious to Barbara Tuchman’s brilliant history, A Distant Mirror. Why I felt this was something to write music about is something that will have to remain between my therapist and myself.
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