In this work for chamber orchestra, I hope to convey the idea of growth: a simple element produces something more complex in an on-going process of development. For instance, a human being grows year by year from a naive baby to a person who experiences and learns more and more. For the living, though, that process of growth is not open-ended: as the Bible says, "ashes to ashes, dust to dust"-- life eventually returns to its simple state. "ONEness" begins with a simple motive: two parallel minor 7ths (C and B-flat, D and C) in the strings. These two sevenths are gradually filled with additional pitches that preserve the outward contour but create a richer harmony. A related motive--comprised of the pitches D, E and F#--is also introduced. As the paired sevenths become more harmonically complex, this melody of three pitches develops as well, becoming fragmented, twisted and inverted. The two main motives take turns being in the foreground. At the work's peak, the most complex statement of the sevenths motives is played by the full orchestra. As the music subsides from this climax, the parallel 7ths sink into the cellos and the clarinet echoes the three-pitch motive, creating an ethereal ending.