No Space³

Written: 2005-06/2023-25 (In-Progress)
Duration: ca. 33'
for orchestra (3 (dbl Pic.), 3 (dbl Eng. Hn.), 3 (dbl Bass Cl.), 3 (dbl C-bsn.); 4,3,3,1; timp +3; hp; kybd (dbl celeste); strings)
Written for JoAnn Falletta and Mostly Modern Orchestra in honor of Mostly Modern Festival’s fifth season
For more information: https://robertpaterson.com/journey-of-a-dragonfly
Video: https://youtu.be/hZOVmC9R82M

As a child, my parents vacationed at a summer cottage in Maine by a small lake. Often by myself, I would sit on a giant boulder and watch the lake and the wildlife for hours.

One day, a beautiful bright-winged dragonfly flew across the lake and hovered before me. I was startled and intrigued: its long, slender blue body glistened in the sunlight. Finally, it began to fly around the perimeter of the lake. It stopped every few minutes and hovered in place, almost as if waiting for me to follow it. I followed the dragonfly until sunset, imagining a world in which only the dragonfly existed, on its own terms, within its own world.

Years later, I hiked around the Niagara Gorge near Niagara Falls and explored Devil’s Hole Park. There is an opening on the side of a cliff called Devil’s Hole Cave. Interestingly, early Native Americans called it the Cave of the Evil Spirit and foretold subsequent disaster to anyone who dared enter the cave. The combination of the lake, the dragonfly, and Devil’s Hole Cave all came together and helped crystalize the idea for this work.

Journey of a Dragonfly begins as the sun rises; a foreboding darkness looms in the background, contrasting the Dragonfly’s graceful entrance into a world filled with the excitement of being alive. A gust of wind carries dandelion seeds skyward alongside butterflies and rainbow-colored wildflowers. Butterflies land on flowers before the Dragonfly ventures through a dark forest and emerges, only to be chased by five blackbirds. Weaving back and forth to try and escape, the Dragonfly flies into a narrow crevice as two of the blackbirds collide with trees. While still being chased, the three remaining birds retreat as the Dragonfly discovers a dark hole leading to a tunnel. The dragonfly speeds down the ghoulish tunnel and emerges at the end of the tunnel at the side of a cliff, hovering in place. It looks around in horror and sees a gigantic cavern and then Devil Town. After flying through Devil Town and witnessing tortured souls, a bomb factory, Attorney Alley, and the Devil’s Saloon, off in the distance, the Dragonfly sees Satan’s House on a hill and decides to explore. The Dragonfly enters the house and sees the Devil Child, the Devil Mother, and the Devil himself. Suddenly, the Devil Child catches the Dragonfly in a glass jar as the parents prepare dinner in the kitchen. The Dragonfly eventually manages to escape, only to be chased by the Devil Child and then by a group of hellish bats. After a chaotic chase, the Dragonfly finds the tunnel and speeds back toward the world above. Finally free, the Dragonfly finds a flat rock to rest. The tale concludes as the Dragonfly falls asleep, the sun sets by the lake, and the evening fades to black.

Journey of a Dragonfly was written for JoAnn Falletta and Mostly Modern Orchestra in honor of Mostly Modern Festival’s fifth season.

– RP

Movements should be listed in programs as follows:

1. The Lake: Sunrise
2. Dragonfly’s Entrance
3. Chase: Blackbirds
4. Descent Into The Underworld
5. Devil Town
6. Satan’s House
7. Trapped
8. Kitchen
9. Escape
10. Chase: Bats
11. Ascent To The World Above
12. The Lake: Sunset

Journey of a Dragonfly for Orchestra

Lights come on, the stage is set,
Promises made, but do they forget?
The people wait, the nation sighs,
Hoping truth ain't drowned in lies.

[Verse 1]
The chamber’s full, the lights shine bright,
The leader steps into sight.
He speaks of dreams, of work well done,
But half the room just bites their tongues.

[Pre-Chorus]
One side cheers, the other sneers,
The cycle’s lasted years and years.
A handshake turns to cold, clenched fists,
Tell me, how’d we end up like this?

[Chorus]
The pendulum swings, left to right,
Back and forth, we fight the fight.
But somewhere between the black and blue,
There's a place for me and you.
Not too high, not too low,
Meet me where the middle grows.

[Verse 2]
A soldier stands, a hero true,
But only half rise in the room.
A mother’s son beats all the odds,
Yet silence cuts like cannon shots.

[Pre-Chorus]
A simple truth, a helping hand,
Shouldn’t be a party’s brand.
We’re losing sight of what is real,
Trading vision for the deal.

[Chorus]
The pendulum swings, left to right,
Back and forth, we fight the fight.
But somewhere between the black and blue,
There's a place for me and you.
Not too high, not too low,
Meet me where the middle grows.

[Verse 3]
They talk of change, they shout and swear,
But nothing moves when no one dares.
It ain't about just red or blue,
It’s what this country’s meant to do.

[Bridge]
Compromise ain't giving in,
It’s where new roads begin.
No more echoes, no more spin,
It’s time to build again.

[Final Chorus]
The pendulum swings, left to right,
Back and forth, we fight the fight.
But somewhere between the black and blue,
There's a place for me and you.
Not too high, not too low,
Meet me where the middle grows.

The Pendulum Swings

A slow-burning cold wave track blending haunting synths, minimal rhythms, and a deep sense of longing.
"I Find the Way" drifts through midnight thoughts and faded memories, searching for connection in the shadows.

Produced at 120 BPM, yet unfolding like a dream at 60 — for night drives, lonely rooms, and late hours where silence speaks loudest.

Best experienced with headphones... and blue lights.

Find The Way

Find the Way - KRT Production

RICH HAPPY FOREVER

SAYYES - CHAMPAGNE

Welcome to the finale of our Winter 2025 series - This Wintry Gaze 3. This is an epic rollercoaster ride through a range of genres and soundscapes. 

Outrageous Intro 
System Crash / Astral Incantations (plays in background of intro dialogue) 
Still Alone & Adrift / Antarctic Wastelands + Rhubiqs 
Signals And Satellites / Antarctic Wastelands + Six Missing 
That Way / Cinnamon Sun 
Better Half Of Me / Isabel Rumble 
When Will We Lose Hope / Romanie 
Do What We Do / Ryan Oliver 
In Here Alone / Under The Rug 
Roll With You / Rhythm Diggers 
Cycles / Jacqui Hunt 
Railway Car, Light On / Messer 
Showdown ft Matt Sallee / Kevin Olusola
Recall Repeat / Gallagath
H Bomb / The Jessica Descent
Pity For The Poet / Rename 
Winter Kills (Yazoo cover) / Covenant
The Last Time, Proof Of Concept (Extended) / Color Theory 
Sound And The Fury (After Midnight mix), Sincerely (Stars At Night mix), To Be Loved (Early Hours mix) / Claudia Brucken
Frozen (Widescreen Mix + Drums), Gone Gone Gone, Sky Fits Heaven (Victor Calderone Future New Edit) / Madonna
Hero / Chronitect
Every Day Is Some Day, Dub In G Minor / Simon D 
The Light At The End Of The Tunnel (Extended), Sea Spray, Painting Over The Cracks / Lord And Master 
Cosmos / Kaidoorn
Multiverse / Electric Tardigrade
Hypnotizer / Aaron Van Wonterghem 
Chores / Ear Mind Eye 
Can You Feel The Sunshine / Phase 7
Space Walk, Lunar Base, We'll Be Alright / Astral Incantations 
Outrageous Outro 

This Wintry Gaze 3

Beyond Time And Space

Here we go again.
There are dark days in England.
The lady at the bus stops off her head.
Least that's what she said.
No rest for the wicked.

Ah! here we go.
With the painted flags of England.
The devil that is screaming in her brain.
She was never the same.
Needed a merger.

One for the live.
One for the sanity.
Into the crowd.
Into the slaughter house.
One for the road.
One more to take away.
In the fun house. 
Where you are blown away.

Dark days, they're stealing them from you.
Dark days, you'll never make it through.
Dark days, you can not get away.
Dark days, we're falling in the rain...

Let's have a drink.
There's nothing to look up to.
You can not save enough for rainy days.
No route of escape.
A fog of returning...

The lips are calming down.
Whilst the tattoos multiplying.
There's money to be spent here in the hay.
What for I can't say.
A sense of belonging?

The crowd are going wild.
The crowd are consuming.
The crowd are all so normal and so safe.
I feel out of place.
I do not belong here.

Regardless of love,
Regardless of empathy.
Godless and lithe.
Godly with vanity.
Regardless of time.
Regardless of anything.
Godless with pain.
God, will you let us be.

Dark days, they're stealing them from you.
Dark days, you'll never make it through.
Dark days, you can not get away.
Dark days, we're falling in the rain...
 

Dark Days

But when you're next to me, you'll feel like my one and only...

Next to Me

Next To Me

Witching Hour

American composer Robert Paterson is a true New Yorker—born and bred in Buffalo, he lived in Rochester and Ithaca for over ten years, in New York City for over twenty years, and now lives in Saratoga Springs, near the Adirondacks. Paterson’s colorful music embraces a wide variety of themes, everything from goddesses and online dating to mathematics and the environment. His music is filled with emotion and fierce rhythmic energy, marked by elegance, wit, and meticulous craftsmanship. Named Composer of The Year by the Classical Recording Foundation at Carnegie Hall, Paterson is the winner of the Alfred I. DuPont Award, and his opera Three Way won the Grammy® under Best Classical Producer of the Year. His music is often a Best of the Year pick on National Public Radio. His orchestral tone poem, Dark Mountains, regularly airs on NPR’s Performance Today. Three Way premiered with Nashville Opera, then BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music), and across the United States. Minnesota Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, The Oratorio Society of New York, Buffalo Philharmonic, Albany Pro Musica, Albany Symphony, Musica Sacra, Austin Symphony, Vermont Symphony, and ensembles worldwide perform his works. Paterson gives masterclasses at the Curtis Institute of Music, New York University, the Aspen Music Festival, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and more. He is the Artistic Director and house composer for Mostly Modern Projects. Robert is a lifelong vegan and advocates for animals and the environment, celebrating the natural world with ground-breaking works such as his Triple Concerto, A New Eaarth, Listen, and I Go Among Trees.

Journey of a Dragonfly for Orchestra

Robert Paterson Composer