Seattle Symphony To Release “Become Ocean”

The opening strains of the symphony Become Ocean are like some faraway aural mirage—so low and rumbling that at first, it’s unclear if what you are hearing is real. But soon a magnificent soundscape crystallizes, one that ebbs and flows, pulling and pushing the listener along as if at the mercy of the tides. The Seattle Symphony commissioned Alaska-based composer John Luther Adams to create the stunning piece, which premiered at Benaroya Hall in 2013 and this year earned Adams the Pulitzer Prize for music. Until now, only a lucky few have heard the groundbreaking masterwork performed live, but this month (9/30) the symphony is releasing a surround-sound recording of Become Ocean on CD and as a download (iTunes and Amazon)—which means countless more can experience its immersive beauty.

Adams wrote the abstract work for three orchestras, each playing separate scores simultaneously and meeting musically at thrilling moments in the piece. The result feels enormous and ever shifting, just like its namesake. “It really puts you in a state of mind or a mood that is like looking at the sky,” says Seattle Symphony maestro Ludovic Morlot. “It’s ultimately about you becoming an element of nature yourself and kind of disappearing in the whole landscape.” As for how the live experience will translate digitally, composer Adams says, “Become Ocean lends itself to a recording because what I want for you as a listener is to be right in the middle of those three orchestras,” an impossible feat in a concert hall. Nodding to the surround-sound feature of the recording, he adds, “You don’t just hear, but you actually feel the waves moving through the sonic space.”