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In der Flut, verloren

Orchestral competition entry for the Preisner International Film Music Competition. Strings, processed piano, and electronic undercurrents track psychological unravelling against rising flood waters.

An orchestral work for the Preisner International Film Music Competition 2026, inspired by Pieter Bruegel the Elder's Tower of Babel — specifically the darker Rotterdam version, with its storm-laden palette of browns, greys, and sombre greens. The piece contemplates human aspiration, hubris, and collective collapse through an inverted narrative structure: it opens at the moment of catastrophe itself, then traces a fragile arc of rebuilding, only to collapse again. The three orchestral families — strings, woodwinds, brass — function as distinct linguistic voices, an echo of the Babel myth's central image: the confusion of tongues, the moment when shared understanding becomes impossible. They begin in chaotic collision, gradually separate into independent lamenting narratives, tentatively reconnect in a passage of precarious beauty, and finally shatter apart once more. By the end, meaning has been lost; what remains are isolated utterances, the ghost of communication. Harmonically, the work is anchored in G Phrygian throughout, with characteristic bII–i cadences (A♭ major to G minor) as a recurring fingerprint — perpetually unstable, always implying collapse rather than arrival. Following Takemitsu's concept of a 'sea of tonality', harmony functions as colour and texture rather than dramatic momentum; motion happens within chords, not toward them. The aesthetic of parsimony — drawn from Morricone — governs every gesture: nothing is ornamental, silence carries weight, and the orchestration thins to solo voices at its most exposed moments. Scored for full orchestra without tuba (2 flutes doubling piccolo, 2 oboes doubling cor anglais, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, 2 percussion, harp, piano, and strings 10/10/8/6/4). Duration: 10–15 minutes.

Tools & Technology

Dorico  ·  REAPER  ·  Cinematic Studio Series