About: In the fall of 2009, my grandmother passed away. Several months later, my childhood Golden Retriever companion died as well. It was a period of reflecting on loss, distance, and change. One night I talked on the phone with my brother, who was living overseas at the time. After hanging up, I played what would be the opening chords of this piece on the piano. Their weight, starkness, and simplicity expressed for me what words couldn’t. A melody grew, carried by the horn’s distant, noble stillness. Of Growing Old and Change is my musical summary of this somber season.
Premiere: Beau Knechtel and Rachel Trenbeath on October 27th, 2010 at Biola University’s Lansing Auditorium, La Mirada, CA.
Instrumentation: horn in F, piano
Duration: ca. 7 minutes
