Cosmic Consciousness 2000

Cosmic Consciousness is a book I read by Richard Maurice Bucke. It deals with three levels of consciousness: the Simple, belonging to the animal kingdom; the Self, belonging to the human race; and the Cosmic, those of the human race who have reached a higher understanding of life and the order of the universe. Some of the individuals the author cites are Jesus, Buddha, Paul the Apostle, Muhammed, William Blake, and Walt Whitman.

Musically this piece is my loose interpretation of the three levels divided into three movements. The Simple, being just as it implies, is rhythmically and melodically simple and somewhat sustained. It has a spatial character utilizing the higher registers of the instruments. The second movement, Self, has a more restless, chaotic, and fast paced character in relation to the lifestyles of the human race. Cosmic, the last movement, returns to the simplicity and sustained quality, but is more grandiose and thicker in texture. Keeping with the author's philosophy of how the Cosmic Consciousness is an evolutionary process, all three movements connect and build into one another.