One Day Wonder #267

For 2 horns and 3 trombones.

After so much trumpet dominance, I wanted to get away from the mid-treble melody. The trumpet has always been the centerpiece of my more melodic pieces (except for a few) and it will rise again to the task. For the moment, however, we’ll do without it. This was an effort to exploit the wonderful 9/8 time signature and try to write an entire piece without any motifs as my guide. OK, I’ve used motifs as my guide before, but this tune is kind of special. It didn’t turn out exactly like I wanted it to, but its contrary directions were fine with me. It’s a fine statement among mid-range brass. I’m very fine with how it is. There’s consonance and dissonance (that’s what I was trying hardest for), and a lot of stuff in between. The big question is whether I could have written this a few weeks ago. The answer is a very strong no. A few weeks ago, I was in complete disarray. I was just getting over being sick and was totally out of ideas. These days, things are much better. Instead of making bold individual statements like I was 200 pieces ago (even though there’s nothing wrong with that), I’m moving incrementally and using all the tools at my disposal – and those are always increasing as I make my way through this project. I knew that something good would come of this.