Instrumentation: wind ensemble
Length: 6 minutes
Composed: 2003

Program Note: Manipulated Inferno combines the riff-based language of rock and funk music with developmental procedures common to classical music. Most rock songs use only a handful of riffs, each usually demarcating a separate section (verse, chorus, bridge, etc.). However in this piece I wrote many, many riffs; in fact in some sections every couple measures there is a different riff. By placing many similar riffs in quick succession, I hope to create the impression of a repetitive rock groove along with a more linear development. The large scale form of the piece roughly mirrors that of my favorite Beatles song, “A Day in the Life”: two large contrasting sections each culminating in a chaotic climax, to which I have added a brief coda.