In 1997, I had the opportunity to compose a work for Jim Tallman and the Washington (IL) Community High School Bands. The resultant piece, Branden’s Rainbow,was a special work to me and I always considered it to have been an honor to be involved with that experience. Therefore, I was thrilled to be asked by Jim to write a new work for his wonderful ensemble for the spring of 2015. This time, Jim asked for a work that would be lyrical and beautiful in nature. 

 

I generally do my best writing when I have a personal association to the material, so I spent a great deal of time struggling with this piece to find that connection. I eventually found the answer one autumn evening on my way home from work. It had been a particularly stressful day, not unlike those that we all seem to face with an unfortunate consistency. As I rounded a bend on a back road in rural New Hampshire, I glanced to my left and noticed a long drive that wandered off the main road into strikingly beautiful fall foliage. My breath caught in my throat as I was struck by how magnificent it all was. It was really just a perfect, fleeting moment, a moment that reminded me how wonderful life is and how insignificant most of my problems were. That single moment of peace is what I hoped to create musically, something that would give the band members a brief respite from the pressures of their own lives and allow them to appreciate the beauty that surrounds us all.