I wrote this sonata in 2021, during the height of COVID. While many performers faced severe disruption, my work—created for later engagement—proved more resilient. That spring, I composed at an unusually rapid pace, producing numerous organ works. This period of intense focus felt restorative, a kind of kairos time.
In my studio, surrounded by books on literature, theology, and design, I returned often to Sinclair Lewis’s Babbitt (1922), a novel I’ve long admired. Its portrayal of materialism and social striving remains strikingly relevant. Babbitt’s pursuit of status and acquisition ultimately reveals a deeper emptiness.
This sonata seeks not merely to narrate the novel but to evoke its atmosphere. What does Zenith feel like—restless, industrious, mechanized?
The first movement, The Shining Spires of Zenith, unfolds with newsreel-like urgency. Repetitive, modular ideas suggest both structural clarity and the mechanized rhythms of modern life.
The second movement, Garden Party, offers satire: a display of wealth, status, and shallow connection. Beneath the surface lies apathy and a longing for authenticity. The movement closes with Babbitt’s name, marked by a descending augmented fourth.
The final movement, Babbitt the Man, presents a psychological portrait. George Babbitt is contradictory—ambitious yet insecure, superficial yet capable of insight. His understanding of success is limited to status and acquisition, but he ultimately confronts their emptiness. In the end, he arrives at a hard-won truth: happiness must be defined on one’s own terms.
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The world premiere of this work was performed by Robin Walker at Canterbury Cathedral on 2 May 2025. You can hear the live performance: