Avarice
| Instrumentation | flute |
| Duration | 7’ |
| Year | 2011, revision 2013 |
SoundCloud
Score
Commercial Recording
Programme Note
Avarice, or extreme greed, is a sin of condition (excess wealth) and a sin of emotion (desire). Although the idea of sin is value-laden, it is difficult to argue that excess wealth is ethical in an unequal, unfair world. It is less clear, though, that desire is a sin - when does it become wrong to want more of something? This music is a descent from innocent desire to consuming obsession, moving through longing, confusion, and anguish, gathering garish wealth, forfeiting humanity.
Support for Avarice was provided by the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario.
Premiere
This piece was premiered by Mark Takeshi McGregor on June 16th, 2011 at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre on the programme Seven Deadly Sins.
The Ontario premiere, also by Dr. McGregor, was on March 9th, 2013 at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.