It Turns Gray (2020)
For brass quintet and percussion
Workshop
Through ACO Pro Summer Intensive on August 28, 2020
Duration
eight minutes
Program Note
It Turns Gray draws its inspiration from the atmospheric change that occurs when a storm is about to come. Recently, I’ve witnessed the build up of storms from my window and outside and it was extremely interesting to pay attention to.
The beginning of the piece is marked ‘’freely and ominous.’’ We only hear these subtle sounds in the percussion and muted brass that are spaced out from each other. The sounds slowly get closer to each other and transitions into a slightly faster tempo where the glockenspiel is introduced. The glockenspiel represents time passing and this slowly goes away as the piece develops in this section. The piece builds up while slowly transforming into dark, tragic, contrapuntal music. The second section is very melancholy and gloomy. The textures in this section are very soft and delicate. The glockenspiel plays the same music material from before in a different key but slowly decaying this time. The last section takes material from the beginning and develops into something even darker and stormier.
It Turns Gray is a metaphor for slow transformation and the emotional outcome of atmospheric change.