Waves

Composed for the American Brass Quintet in 2023, Waves is based on experiences from my first scuba diving trip in 2014. The work opens by introducing motivic quartal sonorities across swirling feathered beam gestures. The horn represents a diver trying to navigate their way through a school of yellow goatfish as they change direction and reflect the sun off their silver scales. The diver finally makes their way out of the tangled shoal, finding open water and a coral reef below. At first, only a few brave fish can be heard as the second trumpet and tenor trombone work together to introduce a vibrant motivic cell. The texture thickens as this cell develops to depict stirring sea-life below. After achieving a colorful climax, silence signals a mysterious shift. The slow entrance of a moray eel transforms the diver’s view as parrotfish seek shelter within the rock and coral. With foggy goggles, the diver swims further to find larger leu tang, butterfly fish, and spotted drum before heading back toward the surface. Between small waves depicted by swelling quartal harmonies, the horn’s final melody references beluga whale calls heard or imagined in the distance. Waves draws to a curious close, representing only one afternoon on the water.