Colors Upon the Sea

Colors Upon the Sea was originally written as the background music for a short video intended to convey a vaguely “pirate-ish” feel. It was inspired by a book where the oceans are various colors and the main character must embark on an adventure involving pirates - the title plays with the dual meaning of oceanic colors and the pirate colors (flags). I also wanted to play around with various orchestral colors while retaining the same melody, and enjoyed experimenting with the different moods of each variation.

The piece begins somewhat calmly with a solo violin playing the main melody to herald the call of the sea; as the rest of the orchestra joins in, the ship readies itself for the impending adventure, and casts off with a lively 6/8 jaunt. The main theme then goes through various permutations and orchestral colors, accompanied by some recurring motifs and countermelodies, and eventually closes with a bombastic unison statement of the main theme.

I had tremendous fun writing this piece, and hope you enjoy listening to it!

-J.M. Whitchurch