Symphony No. 7 (1989)

I. The Whirligig of Time
II. The Hourglass of Time
III. The Corridors of Time

I. Whirligig of Time
We are whirling and melting into the vibrating sound-waves of the eternal Mysterium.

II. Glass of Time
Dedicated to those who brought down ‘The Wall’ in peace.

III. Corridors of Time
We move in our separate ways to the end of the corridor and fall at last into the arms of God.

How deeply grateful I was to receive a surprise commission from the South German Radio for an orchestral work of any size! After twenty years of developing my linear glissando structures, I was at last able to hear them for large orchestra with the use of fourfold instruments.

This was during a period of uncertainty in Germany. Many new faces appeared from Eastern countries, and the end of the Cold War seemed close at hand. However, would it be the dreaded war of missiles? It was as if time stood still and life lost its importance to the greater threat. This unrest became part of the music I was writing, along with the compression of time-events which took the form of masses of gradually moving sound.

Gloria Coates