Nocturne - Trombone Quartet

Commissioned by the Elysian Trombone Consort and premiered at the International Women's Brass Conference (May 2019). Generously funded by the University of Dayton Department of Music.

noc·turne (näktərn)

noun

1.1. – MUSIC - a short composition of a romantic or dreamy character suggestive of night, typically for piano.

2.2. – ART - a picture of a night scene.

In this case, I am not trying to replicate a dreamy piano piece but rather a piece of Art depicting a more contemporary night scene. I am seeing myself sitting on a front porch, balcony or back deck in the evening. All is calm as one struggles to get past the stresses of the day and relax into the growing night. Depending on one's whereabouts there is a rush of sound, a scurry and a scuttling. This could be animals in a rural setting or mischievous children, even thieves in the city. One then either watches a "woman of the night" walk down the street or imagines an amorous encounter with one's own partner. Perhaps both. The scurrying happens again and one settles back into a state of observance and even reverie. Throughout one can find occasional depictions of heartbeats, reminding us of how grateful we are to experience this night.