Impressions

I. Sunrise

II. Midday

III. Sunset

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I. Sunrise

II. Midday

III. Sunset

Program Notes

Impressions is my second work for brass band. It was commissioned by the Metropolitan Silver Brass Band on behalf of band member Bill Martyn and dedicated to his late wife, Kay Martyn.

Although I had never met Kay, I was inspired to write a suite of movements based, in part, on the affectionate anecdotes of her life offered to me by those who knew her best that formed a series of vivid 'impressions.' Her love of books, bird-watching, gardening, and the music of the Renaissance, all of this weaved its way into the spirit of the composition.

Each movement describes a period of the day; together they comprise a broad metaphor for life's stages: childhood, youth and adulthood, old age. Dawn contrasts sonorous, chorale-like progressions with a fugal episode reminiscent of late Renaissance counterpoint; it is the most somber of the three movements, an ode to the fragility of life's offerings and to the memory of those who have left us. The second movement, Midday, is a brief, exuberant scherzo whose dance-like outer sections bookend a sweeping melody suggestive of life at its peak. The third movement, Sunset, engages the solo cornet section in a flurry of divisi like a flock of birds, and concludes with a radiant rendering of the Midday theme, a final farewell to a life well-lived.

Performances

April 16, 2011 - Metropolitan Silver Band, conducted by Fran Harvey. Jane Mallet Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, Toronto

July 19, 2013 - Hannaford Street Silver Band. Charles W. Stockey Centre for the Performing Arts, Parry Sound

October 20, 2013 - Hannaford Street Silver Band, conducted by James Gourlay. Jane Mallet Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, Toronto

February 14, 2014 - Five Lakes Silver Band. Our Lady Star of the Sea, Grosse Point Farms, Michigan

April 20, 2018 - Griffon Brass Band. Christ Church, Montreal; QC

Audio Excerpts