Cloud Atlas Overture

Cloud Atlas Overture is a five-minute epic inspired by David Mitchell's novel, which tells six interconnected stories spanning time and space (the first is set in 1800s New Zealand and the last in post-apocalyptic Hawaii). Adapting the novel into an opera/musical would be a dream project, if it weren't for the fact that it would have to be about six hours long.

The novel's Matryoshka doll structure—the stories are presented in the order 12345654321—inspired the arch form of the piece. I was also inspired by imagery of a tiny ship thrown by massive forces out of its control, as well as the story's beautiful final couplet: "No matter what you do it will never amount to anything but a single drop in a limitless ocean." / "What is the ocean but a multitude of drops?"