Edge Effect - 2013

Concerto for Trumpet and Wind Ensemble

 

I Savanna and Jungles

 

II Fireflies and Moonlight

 

III Monoliths and Rivers

 

Orchestration:

Piccolo

Flutes 1, 2

Alto Flute

Oboes 1, 2

English Horn

Bassoon 1, 2

Clarinets in Bb 1, 2, 3

Bass Clarinet in Bb

Contra Alto Bass Clarinet in Eb

Alto Saxophone in Eb 1, 2

Tenor Saxophone in Bb

Baritone Saxophone in Eb

 

Solo Trumpet in Bb

Trumpet in Bb 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Horn in F 1, 2, 3, 4

Trombone 1, 2, 3

Bass Trombone 1

Baritone

Tuba

 

Timpani

Percussion 1, 2, 3, 4

Drum Set (Snare, 3 Toms, Hi-Hat, Bass Drum, 2 Cymbals), Bells, Xylophone, Vibraphone, Marimba, Tubular Bells, Crotales, Log Drum, Claves, Timbales, Wood Blocks, Castinets, Crash Cymbals, Suspended Cymbals.

 

In ecology the term edge effect refers to the areas where two distinctly different habitats converge stark contrast.  Generally such areas feature increased biodiversity.  This concerto features the trumpet in a role as explorer visiting and interacting with the diverse musical habitats, sound worlds, ideas, and styles created by a wind ensemble.  The most obvious edge present is the convergence between jazz and other contemporary classical styles.  Throughout the work jazz typically represents humanity’s interaction with nature and the edges created by our presence.   The first movement is a set of continuous variations loosely based on the blues meant to invoke the edge between the plains and jungles both natural and urban.  A forest edge during the night is the setting for the second movement, with monolithic rocks and rushing rivers encapsulated in the third movement.  The second movement, near the end, captures my foreboding concern at humanities treatment of natural resources.  This thematic material is transformed at the end of the third movement into my hope for humanity’s growing respect for the preservation of the natural world in which we live.