Fragments: Set II (winter)

for solo euphonium

Commissioned by Jake East

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Duration: ca. 8'00"

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Premiere: May 4, 2017 | Tampa, FL | Jake East (euphonium)

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Program Notes

Winter Fragments is the second set in an ongoing series called Fragments, for solo euphonium. Each set of Fragments focuses on a particular season, and consists of 8 miniature movements (approx. 1 min each), The title and character of each movement is taken from a fragment of a Matsuo Basho haiku; in the case of Winter Fragments, these haikus are focused on Winter:

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Year’s end, all

corners of this

floating world, swept.

Winter garden,

the moon thinned to a thread,

insects singing.

As in the first set of Fragments (Summer), Winter Fragments is intended to express a particular sonic idea evoked by each fragment of poetry as concisely as possible in each movement. Because of this, musical material often goes beyond melody and harmony, utilizing various extended sounds that can be created on the euphonium as a central focus.