ATONE

Composed September, 2009 - July, 2010

Duration: 20'
Instrumentation: String Orchestra

The word "atone" means forgiveness, or to become in harmony with.  Each movement under this title is a vignette that draws its inspiration from a different aesthetic experience (I. sight, II. hearing, and III. taste/touch/smell) that encourages this spiritual renewal.       

                                                                      -NATHAN WILSON BALL


Movements
I. Stained Glass
II. Tattered Books
III. Broken Gifts

Premiere
March 6, 2010 - Jordan Hall, Boston, MA. 
Boston Modern Orchestra Project, conducted by Gil Rose.

Awards
1st Prize in the NEC/BMOP
Composition Competition


Press Reviews

[Ball] got to that uplifting place in an accomplished, thoughtful way, with a last-minute surge that hinted at more interesting things to come…

Ball clearly has promise…

-Thomas Garvey, The Hub Review

…adroit and expressively efficient…

The final cadence was the highlight: a deep, organ-like physically palpable shift of sound.

-David Weininger, The Boston Globe

…[with its] expansiveness and optimism, it seemed more to capture light coming across the plains, or something pastoral like that. (Ball does hail from Colorado.) I don’t think I was only one in the audience who would like to hear more.

-Bryce Lambert, Boston Lowbrow

Ball exhibited a praiseworthy command of orchestration, shifting between musical textures with convincing and affective narrative.

…undoubtedly left the audience very interested...

-Peter Van Zandt Lane, The Boston Music Intelligencer