Lion Song

Lion Song was originally composed for a Belmont University composers competition. It has been my dream from a young boy to one day compose a piece for the orchestra. So, with much prayer and time, this is the result.

The title “Lion Song,” is a reference to C.S. Lewis’s “The Magician’s Nephew,” from the Chronicles of Narnia. In the book, Aslan, the mighty Lion, sings Narnia into existence. It starts with one tone with not much movement then builds to many tones and faster movement until the hills, trees, and grass suddenly appear one after the other. Also, I used the biblical creation story as a reference, especially about the creation of the animals and of Man.

In “Lion Song,” I just wanted to simply illustrate how fun it must have been for creation to be birthed. Maybe, it started with one patch of grass and then just spread like wild fire over the earth. Maybe it started with one dog in the field, then another and another. Then a bird appears whistling alone, until another appears and they sing together until there is a whole flock and a symphony of tones from the new creek, new wind, new animals vocalizing for the first time, as well as man and woman as they rejoice. This was from where I approached this piece and I hope listeners may feel the joy of it as well.