The Hand of God

“The Hand of God” refers to an “illegal” goal made by Argentine footballer Diego Maradona during the 1986 FIFA World Cup Quarterfinals against England.

In this work I intended to have the musical materials derive from soccer moves and trajectory mimic that of getting more proficient at those moves. While writing this work, I learned of “The Hand of God” and its anti-colonial connotations in the context of the Falklands War, and how Diego later relayed that he viewed this illegal move as “symbolic revenge” against England. This work is a loose metaphor for the journey that Diego took towards mastery of the art of football. As such the work is at times lumpy, uncomfortable, and viscous with many harsh and deeply dissonant cluster chords. But, out of that discomfort is brough a clarity, as the piece seems to “learn the trick” after much repetition.

This work is dedicated to Nadia Shpachenko. This work was written as a part of her GOAT Commissioning/Recording Project, funded by New Music USA.

A recording of this work will be available later in 2024. It is going to be released on all streaming platforms and published through Reference Recordings.