Product Description
Dimension Traveler, Op. 150, for brass quintet was completed 26 Mar 2024. When I wrote the first few distinctive notes into the computer, my ten-year-old son said that it sounded futuristic. Somehow that sparked memories of a novel I had started years ago, titled Dimension Traveler, based on dimensional theories I had developed. With that fresh inspiration in mind, the piece wrote itself with opening movie credits in mind.
The form is thematically palindromic, the center point being m. 77. The beginning to rehearsal letter A mirrors K to the end; A to B is parallel to J-K; B-C = I-J; C-D = H-I; D-E = G-H; and the central thematic sections E-F = F-G. Concerning that central turning point, the thematic material shifts from the trumpets first statement at letter E to low brass with the trumpets taking on the pointillistic accompaniment at letter F. Of interest is the parallel of C-D and H-I wherein the motivic material, including dynamics, is quite literally reversed note for note to a climax.
For aural aesthetics in performance, there is an optional cut from letter K to m. 142. Thematically, the structure remains chiastic, but taking the cut simply truncates the end for a motivic flavor rather than repeating the entire opening entrée. There is nothing wrong with purists performing the work in its entiretyit is simply a matter of taste among the performing ensemble members.
Stylistically, this piece strays far from my typical compositions. Besides the pervasive echoing eighth-note motifs, the key never changes, and there is no chromaticism. Inspired in that regard by the masterpiece Quintet by Michael Kamen, the diatonicism often flows in planed clusters mildly influenced by the choral works of Eric Whitacre. Another deviation from my well-established compositional habits is the instrumentation including bass trombone instead of tuba. Of course the part can be played by a tubist, though the bass trombone meshes more seamlessly with the timbres of the other instruments in passing along the pervasively echoing eighth-notes.
The individual brass parts appear deceptively simple, and indeed, they are not technically demanding besides a couple high notes in the trumpets. However, putting this piece together in an ensemble setting is rhythmically treacherous!
The four-minute final product indeed sounds like it could be the opening to an epic movie of the same title, based on the novel-in-progress.
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