Moving Forward

Again, thank you to Ricky Smith for not only playing the trumpet for this recording, but assisting so much in to composition of this piece. And thanks to Spencer for getting us the NAU recital hall for an evening and helping us record.

This is the product of 3 days of composition (I wanted to finish it before the end of the year), 2 days of practice, and 4 hours of recording. It was a tight schedule, so it may not sound perfect, but I'm happy with it.

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In Moving Forward the mood is reflective of both sides of death. The views of both the person who passed away and the people left behind can be
summarized by the music herein.

For the person who has passed on, the opening fifteen bars stand to
embody something of an ethereal state. Possibly standing in a spirit
world of some sort where everything is hazy and wispy. Likewise, those
who are left behind in the wake of the death are bound to see things in
a cloudy state - unable to think or even function at times. So for both
parties it almost hints at the emptiness in the soul and the question of
what to do next.

The following section (mm. 16 - 45) is reminiscent, yet moves forward
gently. A flow akin to the river that some liken death to. Perhaps a
gentle ride on a tuft of air through the dark tunnel to the light at the
end. This feeling can be associated with those who remain alive as well,
though. But instead of moving toward a better place, the people left
behind are often shells going about everyday tasks, looking for answers
but never really finding hope. The cup mute solo in the trumpet part in
the last bars of this section acts as a bit of a ghost, both haunting
the dead of the things they are missing from life, and the living of the
one they miss who is dead.

The last portion (mm. 46 - end) picks up tempo slightly and shows that
those in life have found a way to continue on, and the individual who
has passed has found paradise at the end of the tunnel. The harmonies in
this section are not completely straight-forward though, as both the
alive and the lifeless are bound to experience that lingering pang of
sadness and nostalgia. However in the end, all is for the best, and all
ends well.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Katie Eide
• Fantasia
• Trumpet
• Piano
• Dave Phillips