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2024-2028 NFMC Federation Festivals Bulletin | Piano Solo Event | Medium Class | Moderately Difficult Class 1 | Moderately Class 2
Composer: Kevin Olson
The legend of the lost city of Atlantis has captured the imaginations of historians, explorers, and curiosity-seekers for generations. As the Greek philosopher Plato described it, an ancient city, blessed with wealth and technological advancements, is swept away mysteriously in one day, and still lies hidden somewhere at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. In this suite, I begin with a movement called “Poseidon’s Kingdom.” Legend says that Atlantis was built on the top of a great island by Poseidon, the god of the sea. I tried to capture the mystery of this ancient city and its connection to the gods in the opening movement. Atlantis was surrounded by rings of water and land, connected by five tunnels. In “Water Play,” I imagine the sounds of the ocean against the shores of the great city. As Atlantis grew and prospered, its wealth began to corrupt the civilization. They became greedy and immoral, and in one horrible night, the gods decided to punish the city with earthquakes and fire, sinking it to the bottom of the ocean. Movement 3: “Night of Earthquake and Fire” describes the disaster, and Movement 4: “Silent Waves” portrays the eerie quiet of a calm sea the resulting morning. I decided to add my own ending to the legend in Movement 5: “Atlantis Rising,” where the city rises triumphantly from the ocean. I’ve always been fascinated by the story told in Debussy’s The Sunken Cathedral, where a cathedral rises up from the sea on clear mornings when the ocean is still, and I wondered if the same thing could happen for an entire lost kingdom. I hope you enjoy going on this musical adventure with me, and it can inspire you to create your own musical explorations of timeless legends and stories.
SKU: EP20158