The Throne and Sacred Heart are the second and third sections of a planned orchestral trilogy entitled In the Realms of the Unreal, each movement of which is based on the life and work of a different American outsider or visionary artist.
The Throne is a musical depiction of Washington outsider artist James Hampton's (1909-1964) sculptural work of the same name.
Sacred Heart: Explosion was commissioned in October 2007, as a revised version of something Friedman wrote while a student at Juilliard.
2 was published by G. Schirmer, Inc. as part of the New American Voices series, and recorded by The Corigliano Quartet for their Naxos debut CD.
In addition to his composition, Mr. Friedman has performed with a number of rock bands, including Shudder To Think, and the electronic music duo Matmos, contributing string arrangements for their album The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast.