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A Passing Storm
For some strange reason, thunderstorms have always fascinated me,
perhaps because they possess both a soothing characteristic as
well as an abundance of raw power and energy. I had tried
unsuccessfully to write a storm piece three years prior to
completing this one, so even though I composed this work during
my junior year at Trinity University, A Passing Storm is really
three years in the making.
Taking advantage of the vast array of timbres and instrumental
colors within the symphonic wind ensemble, my goal was to
sonically recreate the various elements of a thunderstorm. One
can imagine thickening and darkening clouds with “clouds” of
pitches growing in dissonance and density. Short biting
gestures represent lightning strikes while loud bass drum and
timpani strikes obviously create the thunder. Also, one can even
hear the sound of raindrops in various sections. The piece is
comprised of several storm “episodes,” each of which contains a
gradual build up and a “dying down”, and each subsequent storm
episode is more “severe” than the previous one.
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