The Jungle as an Art Form is a piece about the tragic and frightening loss that struck so many of us during the 2020-21 COVID-19 Pandemic. This piece was commissioned by my friend and colleague Zac in memory of his grandfather. Given the complex and heavy emotional material, I chose to have it speak through the allegory of being lost in the jungle. The jungle can be an ominous and dangerous place without a great deal of prior experience and requires careful navigation around a variety of potential threats.

This is where the allegory goes to work: as each movement details both an aspect of the jungle and its relation to one of the five stages of grief. The extended length of the piece and harsh harmonic landscape seek to take the listener on a journey through these stages and along this tumultuous expedition. But at the time of writing, the pandemic was a considerable way away from its end, leading to an inconclusive ending for the piece. As the material builds to a thunderous climax, it settles on a bright quintal harmony on the dominant after an extended modulation to provide a sense of arrival without undermining the length of the remaining journey at hand.

This piece is commissioned by and dedicated to my good friends and colleagues Zac Tucker and Shae Fickett.