Creatures of Ezekiel

The fantastic and baffling vision of probably the Bible's most enigmatic prophet, Ezekiel, tells of strange creatures appearing in a cloud surrounded by brilliant light. Each creature has a wheel near its base intersecting another wheel, with eyes all around the rims. When the creatures move, the wheels do not turn, but rather "follow" their host; when the creatures rise, the wheels also rise, thus following the creatures wherever they go.
Such material cries out for a fantastical and grandiose tone-poem: the temptation is almost too great. However, Creatures of Ezekiel chooses rather to focus on the creatures and their movements among the clouds, rather than representing Ezekiel 1 and 2 in musical form. The swirling and fantastic images of brilliant light, immense clouds and the awesome atrocity of the four creatures become important focal points.
Instruments are treated as groups of super-swirling cluster-chords, constantly highlighted by "supernatural" elements — this is represented in the music by extended techniques in the form of noise or special effects. Both these effects are used to symbolise the inexplicable nature of the God of the Old Testament, YAHWEH, the great "I AM".
Multiple layering, repetitions and "loops" are used to further represent these bizarre creatures repeatedly traversing the cloud with immense speed. As is often the convention in ancient literature, Ezekiel uses repetition to convey and expound his message, as is also found in this work.
This symbolism of the ethereal in music is not intended to be comprehensive, but representative. Listeners may perceive, interpret and identify with these often-conflicting states and strata according to their openness and response to the work's inner logic, and their understanding and attitude towards the extramusical material.