First Version - March 9, 2026
Latest Version - March 12, 2026
Violin (Mute)
Trumpet in C (Straight Mute, Cup Mute)
4.3-Octave Marimba (Soft Mallets, Hard Mallets)
Artists - John MacLachlan (composer)
Movements - N/A
Duration - 6'30"
Difficulty - High
Composition Opportunity - University of British Columbia Introduction to Composition 2025/26 Assignment Five
In this piece, I look at photosynthesis as an allegory for my conversion to Catholicism. During photosynthesis, carbon dioxide enters the leaf through the stomata. It travels through the spongy mesophyll and enters the palisade mesophyll, where photosynthesis occurs, combining carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight to form sugar and oxygen. Finally, oxygen can leave the cell; in this piece, I depict it returning to the stomata and exiting there. Using the atomic numbers of the atoms in each compound, I derived musical material: carbon dioxide is C, C, E, G-sharp; water is C, C-sharp, D, F-sharp; sugar is a lengthy combination of motives; oxygen is C, E, G-sharp; and sunlight is a glissando on the marimba’s resonators. Each section of the piece depicts carbon dioxide entering the leaf and oxygen exiting: a cramped, energetic flow into a stoma; a gradual and light meandering through the spongy mesophyll; an intense, repetitive reaction that gradually transforms the material; a calm drift back through the spongy mesophyll; and a crowded exit back through a stoma. As one step in photosynthesis is the Calvin cycle, I decided to embed references to my conversion to Catholicism into this piece. The piece begins with the simplicity of atheism, gradually shifting to the cognitive dissonance that drew me to recognize God’s existence. After I moved into Anglicanism, the complexity and theological gaps present threw me into a further epistemological crisis, until I came towards Catholicism, through which I have gradually found resolutions to protestant dilemmas. Thus, I named the piece after the Calvin cycle, which plays a partial role in turning carbon dioxide into sugar and oxygen. And, I named it after the Calvinist elements that led me away from protestant theology, towards Catholicism.
Performers - Ouwen Huang, John MacLachlan, Catherine Connolly
Festival/Concert - University of British Columbia Introduction to Composition 2025/26 Recital Five
Venue - University of British Columbia School of Music Room 113, 6361 Memorial Rd., Vancouver, B.C.
Date - March 13, 2026