Suitable for All Ages

Suitable for All Ages is composed of two miniatures written using toys from the toy hall of fame as inspiration for material and narrative. The first movement simply entitled Bubbles, is referencing the toy of the same name, and depicts my own experience playing with bubbles as a child. The flute, clarinet and upper range of the piano embody the children, frolicking joyfully with bubbles at a wedding, as these were always handed out in my family. The guitar, contrabass and lower range piano embody the adults who interrupt the children to dampen the fun. After some convincing, the adults join the children in play, becoming children once again themselves. Mana is a movement that uses the game Magic: The Gathering as inspiration. In Magic, mana are cards used to cast spells, and correspond to five different main terrains, Forest, Island, Plains, Swamp and Mountain. In Mana, each instrument takes on the characteristics of the mana to which they're assigned, Flute/Forest, Clarinet/Island, Guitar/Plains, Contrabass/Swamp, and Piano/Mountain. The clarinet and flute merge to form Simic, a color combination known for producing a lot of mana, and for controlling the opponent. Electric Guitar and Contrabass merge to form Orzhov, using life gain, life drain, and the macabre to defeat the opponent. Finally, the piano is what is referred to as mono red, using its material to quickly deplete its resources in an attempt to burn the opponent to the ground. The piece ends with an ambiguous victory as to not give any preferential treatment to part of the color-pie.