One Day Wonder #292

For 3 horns, 4 trumpets, 3 trombones and tuba.

Well, I had such a good time writing #284 that I decided to do something similar. And by “similar,” I mean that it will unfold slowly and contain lots of held notes. I also wanted to use a slightly smaller ensemble. At first, I only had three trumpets, but once I found myself borrowing a trombone to thicken up the treble textures, I brought in a fourth. Instead of building from the low brass to the horns to the trumpets, it’s the trumpets that set the mood and the horns with the main voice. And yes, once again, the trombones and tuba are there for atmosphere, but their participation is much more limited. The piece works well, I guess. And that’s about all I can say about it. But I’ve noticed this: back when I began the project and I wanted to write something on the slow side, I’d write a brass chorale. In fact, the chorale was always my “safe house” in case whatever I was trying didn’t work out or if I was pressed for time and such. Starting at #102, my slow stuff started to acquire all this restless tension. I like to call that my “Liebestod phase,” even though those pieces don’t resemble Wagner in the least. I tried to recreate that magic several times. Later on, I managed to merge the two things into the oddball elegy in the #170s. Since then, there was no significant evolution until I beefed up the ensemble and started writing lots of whole notes – or dotted whole notes for this piece. So here we have the next step. Once again, I’m pretty surprised that I’m showing any kind a development, since I’m so thoroughly sick of this project, but there’s your proof. Yes, I’m sure that I’ll continue to evolve if I’m foolish or stupid enough to continue the project past 300, but it has to end sometime and that sometime might as well be 300 (which will actually feature 301 pieces, but who’s counting?). Otherwise, I’ll probably go completely nuts. I mean, I’ve stranded myself in ugly, crazy Belltown for most of the last year to get this done. Meanwhile, I’ve stopped playing the saxophone and let my apartment descend into squalor. It’s not that a lot of these pieces took a long time to write (most took less than four hours), but it was the drain of mental energy. Once I was done with any given piece, I was generally ready to do nothing else for the rest of the day, except maybe read or watch a movie or whatnot. When I started this project, I had visions of writing these pieces during the day and writing some very large work in the evening. That didn’t come to pass, but it would have been one hell of an achievement. So although I’ve been industrious, I’ve haven’t worked as hard as I’d wanted to. But funny thing, it didn’t really matter. If I’d worked harder or finished faster, I’d be right where I am today – in ugly, crazy Belltown, driving a 40-year-old car and wondering when things are going to get right. And that’s just what I’m doing now. But the good news is that I’m taking a road trip once I’m done. I’m thinking that the great, liberating day will be March 6th. After that, I’ll spend a week cleaning my apartment (I’ve been neglecting it for far more than a year), fly down to San Jose and hit the road, heading east. That’s the plan. So naturally, my head’s elsewhere, but I hope I can muster a few more good pieces before I hit 300.