Follow Beowulf, hero of old, as he battles medieval creatures threatening his home. With new threats around every corner, Beowulf fights to keep his people safe, but will it cost him his own life? The circular form of this piece mimics the cycle of the original Old English poem, which is steeped in “wheel of fate” imagery prevalent throughout literature of this time period. The idea of periods of darkness interrupted by short periods of light is represented by the overarching A-B-A form of the work.

“The sparrow, flying in at one door and immediately out at another, whilst he is within, is safe from the wintry tempest, but after a short space of fair weather, he immediately vanishes out of your sight, passing from winter to winter again. So this life of man appears for a little while, but of what is to follow or what went before we know nothing at all.” -St. Bede

-program notes by Julia Richards
—please credit Julia Richards when reproducing these notes in excerpts or in full