Manta Rays

When I was asked to write this piece for the Delphi Saxophone Quartet. I found myself starkly inspired by a video that came across my feed online. The video showcased a beautiful school of manta rays that looked like it went on for miles. In that moment I knew exactly what I wanted my next piece to be about.

I set off with the goal to capture the vastness of the ocean filled with these elegant creatures. This is where the opening came in, creating these cascading harmonies putting the listener in a place that is reminiscent of the ocean. 

The next idea was to capture the playful nature of these animals i.e. the fast section, taking fast playful melodies and driving rhythms to create a contrasting sound world from the beginning.

From here, I wanted to transition to something that embodies the phrase “Wanderers of the sea.” While my initial discovery involved the most incredible visual of what could have been millions of manta rays, I learned that manta rays tend to live the majority of their lives as solitary creatures traveling over thousands of miles during their migration. I found going back to something slow allowed me to create this beautiful picture of these creatures. I wanted something dreamy and ethereal, using harmony as the driving force rather then rhythm as done in the previous section. From here I transitioned back to the beginning section but with a more mysterious undertone to create this idea of the unknown. An Idea that these manta rays face everyday when exploring the incredible open underwater world that is our oceans.