My latest composition, Passions and Resolutions, is now available on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and other platforms (link at the end of this blog).

Passion, whether it’s for a person, a cause, an idea or a project, may occasionally be lifelong (or so some people claim), but in my experience passions rise, come to a peak and then fall when there is some kind of resolution or outcome. A passion might be resolved by the achievement of the goal the passion was driving towards (in the case of a passionate relationship, perhaps marriage or long-term commitment). Or a passion might be resolved by a failure to achieve the goal it was driving towards (the relationship breaks up, or cools off when passion fades).

Whatever the object of passion, its resolution can either lead to feelings of satisfaction, relief, happiness, or disappointment, sadness, even despair. No matter which emotions follow, when the passion ends, the restless energy which drove it subsides – but it does not always dissipate completely, and that remnant of energy may then be redirected to another person or cause or idea: passion is reignited.

“Passions and resolutions” was originally a phrase in an essay by the Scottish philosopher David Hume (1711-1776), referring to the fluctuating emotions of a crowd being addressed by a “great orator”. Music can affect people in similar ways, and a great deal of music depends for its effect and is structured around a series of passions or tensions and their resolutions.

In this music, as often in life, the resolution of each passionate episode does not completely dissolve its energy, and that remnant of energy feeds or is swept up into the next surge of passion… until the final resolution and the attainment of peace.

Here is a sample of Passions and Resolutions:

You can listen to the whole piece on YouTube here.