Bridges

Program Notes

Bridges is the Hogtown Brass Quintet's inaugural commission, and is intended to commemorate the start of a new season, and, potentially, an auspicious era of brand new Canadian creations written specifically for this burgeoning ensemble.

The title reflects a peculiar technical and philosophical obsession of mine: the idea of a bridge, which, in music as elsewhere, is intended to connect places or ideas which would otherwise remain isolated. In this single-movement work, the ideas themselves — recurring themes, tonal centres, and so forth — are less important than the music’s internal efforts to move between ideas seamlessly, and the ensuing journey. This is a piece about connectivity, and the network of (hopefully!) organic transitions which enables the harmonious coexistence of disparate styles. It is also, more broadly, a plea for us to build better bridges with one another, and to make our capacity for human connection, rather than disconnection, a primary value — no matter how seemingly insurmountable the differences.