Surfacing by Dave Hall

Surfacing (2015) begins with a tumultuous introduction where several emerging pitch centers eventually coalesce into a three-note descending bassline. The bassline then fragments into different voices and occurs at multiple rates of speed on top of a relentless sixteenth note keyboard ostinato. During a more tranquil middle section, the descending bassline is gradually repurposed as the foundation of an ascending chord progression. After a short recapitulation and long delayed harmonic resolution, the dust settles and the piece concludes with a piano-led epilogue. In the end of the piece the ascending chord progression is all that remains, accompanied only by a few musical artifacts from the introduction.