Living Darkness
for 2 trumpets, tenor trombone, and bass trombone (2021)
written for The Westerlies
This work represents the beauty and emotion that can be found in the essence of darkness. Both movements are depictions of various interpretations of what fills the darkness, or what can make darkness go away. Living Darkness is my exegesis on the beautiful characterization of night in contrast to the exciting escape from darkness that is personified by D.H. Lawrence in his poems:
Movement I: The Grandeur of Night
“And I know the host, the minute sparkling of darkness
Which vibrates untouched and virile through the grandeur of night,
But which, when dawn crows challenge, assaulting the vivid motes
Of living darkness, bursts fretfully, and is bright”
– from D. H. Lawrence, “Blue”
Movement II: The Mystic Blue
“All these pure things come foam and spray of the sea
Of Darkness abundant, which shaken mysteriously,
Breaks into dazzle of living, as dolphins that leap from the sea
Of midnight shake it to fire, so the secret of death we see.”
– from D. H. Lawrence, “The Mystic Blue”
This piece was written for The Westerlies’ new music reading at Michigan State University on November 2, 2021.
Listen (Movement 1, MIDI Rendering):
Listen (Movement 2, MIDI Rendering):
Listen to an excerpt of The Westerlies playing Movement 2: