Midsummer Pavanes

Composer's Note:

Written on commission from a consortium of American and Canadian bands, this work is a memorial to my mentor George Buckbee. As the title suggests, characteristics of the pavane, a moderately slow Renaissance dance sometimes associated with mourning, pervade the work. These include the stately “long-short-short” rhythmic pattern, and the paired but varied statements of melodic ideas. The work opens with a dirge over a descending bass line, a short trumpet fanfare, and a simple, cantabile tune heard in first in F and later in G-flat. The piece returns to F and ends with quiet, improvised percussion figures that slowly dissipate into nothingness.