Winter Horizon
for concert band or wind ensemble
Winter Horizon was written after a particularly bad wildfire season here in the Pacific Northwest. After such a devastating summer, the prospect of winter seemed to offer respite and renewal. I've always thought of winter as a time of hope—perhaps because of the long nights when the imagination can run free, envisioning a better future.
Accordingly, the music builds in energy and confidence over the course of the piece. It begins subdued, with a midwinter landscape. As the first snow begins to fall around measure 14, the imagination begins to take over. We explore the many possibilities a winter landscape holds—including the promise of spring.
I originally conceived this work as a choral piece, based on my own words. While that version never quite came to pass, I think this excerpt from the text captures my intentions in the piece's climactic section:
More and more, the sun will linger in the sky.
The new year will enfold the old in spring.
More and more, our song will resound in our bones,
and the black pines on the hill will seek the sun--
binding their scars into new bark,
slowly reclaiming their roots from fire.
Accordingly, the music builds in energy and confidence over the course of the piece. It begins subdued, with a midwinter landscape. As the first snow begins to fall around measure 14, the imagination begins to take over. We explore the many possibilities a winter landscape holds—including the promise of spring.
I originally conceived this work as a choral piece, based on my own words. While that version never quite came to pass, I think this excerpt from the text captures my intentions in the piece's climactic section:
More and more, the sun will linger in the sky.
The new year will enfold the old in spring.
More and more, our song will resound in our bones,
and the black pines on the hill will seek the sun--
binding their scars into new bark,
slowly reclaiming their roots from fire.