Nature doesn't panic when it rains, that's a human thing. So, although I found myself initially wanting the trumpet to reflect the anxiety I would feel because of an increase in a rain storm's tempo, Cohen's trumpet reminded me that this wasn't about humans, but about nature. The smoothness of the trumpet, and its repeating the same patterns all the way through the opening piece, establishes that nature accepts the flood and all its consequences without reacting like we would.
Talk about making best use of minimal resources. With only three instruments not only does Cohen manage to create the atmosphere and sound of rain falling so that we know the flood is beginning, he establishes the point of view that we will be seeing everything from for the remainder of the piece. Finally, he also sets the precedent for what each instrument will represent throughout the course of the music; the piano will describe the events as they occur, percussion will accent and colour the events, adding to their flavour and giving them depth, and the trumpet will give sound to the voice of the natural world.
As we progress through the various stages of the flood Cohen tries to capture the feel of the world being covered by an endless expanse of water with the two pieces "Heavy Water: Prologue" and "Heavy Water". The former is a short trumpet solo that sets the stage for the piece following it. Slow and extended notes, with just the tiniest amount of reverb added on, create an image of a vista of water stretching as far as the eye can see. We jump into the main body of "Heavy Water" without a break, but with the sudden addition of the piano and percussion increasing the tempo of the piece. It's as if he's reminding us that just because all we can see is water doesn't mean there's no life or that everything is as monochrome as one might believe from seeing a huge body of water.
Of course flood waters aren't just going to sit there idly doing nothing, even if they cover the whole world. Sure, there aren't as many beaches as there were before for the tide to come in and out on, but that doesn't mean that it's not moving. Perhaps a mountain top or two break the horizon and the water ebbs and flows around their peaks? Or what is the weight of the water doing to whatever lies underneath it? How is the world being reshaped by the flood? What will be born out of this chance of rebirth?
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