WIND ENSEMBLE

Tributaries 

Tributaries (sample PDF)
File Size:	525 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

---

Tributaries – a programmatic work – depicts the experience of floating down a river on an inner tube. The impetus of this piece was the idea of tributaries funneling into a main river, which proceeds until diverging into yet more tributaries. The subject – you – begins wading reluctantly into the river, wondering what its current has in store for you. Eventually, you find yourself in the center for the river where the speed of the current is at its strongest. Perhaps in this time, you are overwhelmed by the sheer power and magnitude of the river. The current steadily slows as you watch the river break back off into more tributaries. In these final moments, by observing a familiar process occur in the opposite direction, you are reminded of how you arrived at your current state.

Below is a crude drawing of how the thematic plot is achieved musically:

Portraits of the Southern Sky

A multi-movement work written for wind ensemble composed during the years 2010-12. Portraits of the Southern Sky was performed in its entirety for the first time on March 30, 2014 by the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra Wind Symphony at the University of North Texas Murchison Performing Arts Center under the direction of Dr. Nicholas Williams. Prior to that performance, the first movement of this work, Cumulonimbus, was performed in Carrollton, Texas by the Hebron High School Wind Symphony under the direction of Andy Sealy, at their Spring Concert in May of 2013. 

On the piece, Greg writes:
"The initial idea for Portraits of the Southern Sky was inspired by simply imagining a man lying on his back in solitude utterly transfixed in the scene unfolding above him - the sky's portrait."

I. Cumulonimbus

I. Cumulonimbus (sample PDF)

"I have always loved the rain. In a way, Cumulonimbus - the first movement - relates to Portraits of the Southern Sky similarly to the way a cumulonimbus cloud itself relates to every storm; they are both the piece's and the storm's "source." The mood this music conveys is gentle and pleasant, like much of the rainfall that frequents our southern skies. A sense of calmness, serenity, and wonder is present throughout the movement. At the beginning, there is a quasi-ostinato pattern stated and is important throughout the movement. This intricate internal pulse underlies the entire movement, and is my musical representation of raindrops continuously falling."

Watch the Hebron High School Wind Symphony perform this movement here. 

II. Rise and Shine

II. Rise and Shine (sample PDF)

"The second movement, Rise and Shine, depicts a sunrise. That this movement exists in my body of work is rather ironic because the only time in my life where I would have watched a sunrise was at early morning marching band rehearsals in high school. The overall form of the movement, ABA', reflects my perception of a sunrise: At dusk, the sun undoubtedly exists, but cannot be seen. Its arrival is anxiously awaited, and then, in a moment of awareness, there it is - the generously imposing presence of the sun. Once the sun is acknowledged, almost as it pleases, its light begins to reach new, more distant places, illuminating colors draped by darkness. Soon, society submits with subservience to the sun, it simply surrounds. A sunrise demonstrates perhaps one of the most dramatic changes in the realm of natural phenomena. I found that while the overall difference between dusk and dawn is quite literally night-and-day, this transition is seamlessly executed. When the sun has fully risen, you notice all at once that the sun is asserting itself less. What fascinates me about sunrises is that while they achieve such stark contrast from "beginning to end," they don't feel as though they have a clear beginning or end. ABA' was chosen as the form of the movement because the two outer sections (A and A') are similar - slow and stripped of their energy - and they both lead into and come out of the contrasting middle section (B) - moderate and more rhythmic."

III. Set and Reflect

III. Set and Reflect (sample PDF)

"Set and Reflect uses the sunset as its portrait. Unlike the second movement, which focuses on the seamless transition between twilight and morning, the third movement places a greater emphasis on reflection. For me, watching a sunset will inevitably lead to personal reflection. This movement is more harmonically experimental in comparison to the preceding movements. Keeping with the trend of the second, the third movement draws from an even wider variety of musical sources. At one point, Steven Bryant's Ecstatic Waters is quoted. In hindsight, I'm sure that I could rationalize my reasoning for doing this, but truth be told, the only thing of my process I am sure of is that back then, is that my process was a mystery. Writing this piece is such a distant memory, but I must have simply discovered a harmonic relationship that loosely existed between our pieces and knew that I would have to credit the fine composer if I were to write something that so clearly resembled a piece of his. The four movement piece as a whole was intended to continuously expand further into the realm of unknown possibilities. This third movement is an appropriate segue into what is to come."

IV. By the Light of the Moon

IV. By the Light of the Moon (sample PDF)

"Our journey into the realm of unknown possibilities would simply not be complete if we did not venture into the fundamentally unknowable. The fourth movement, By the Light of the Moon, is intentionally the longest and most difficult movement of the piece. This movement is my musical representation of the southern sky by the light of the moon. It is true that the visibility of stars in Dallas, Texas does not even remotely compare to stargazing in Spokane, Washington or at the Grand Canyon, but nonetheless, there are pockets in our great state where the stars are profoundly beautiful. Stargazing has always been one of my deepest fascinations. When I am stargazing, I am unable to focus my attention onto one particular star or even constellation for too long. I prefer to see more of the picture. To me, the point of stargazing is to allow for the uncountable number of possibilities to hook my attention for a brief moment in time. I was intrigued by the possibility of writing a finale movement that conveyed that idea musically. The resulting music from this approach is more contrapuntal than the previous three movements. Several musical ideas may ask for your attention simultaneously, so while the full picture - the ensemble as a whole - provides the music, smaller subsections or individuals are capable of hooking your attention as well."