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This movement from "The Elements", which Glen Newton composed as part of the 1983 West Bank School of Music composers' workshop, begins with a chorale, with the clarinet doubling the top line of the piano/organ part and the bassoon doubling the bass line. The euphonium and tuba play small countermelodies in bars four through eight, then are featured in a duet starting at letter A. The material from A to C is completely different from the introduction, but the transition from C to D takes the music back to the chorale style. At D the four wind instruments play the chorale, and the piano or organ and tenor drum with snares off join them on the repeat to conclude the movement.
The composer comments:
When we performed at Macalester's Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center, Maggie played the keyboard part to "Earth" on the center's organ. At the Walker, we had no organ so she used the grand piano. Both helped convey the sense of serenity I wanted for this movement, but the organ's sustained notes were a better match for the wind instruments in the introduction and at letter E.