Large Ensemble Works

“Last Tuesday” for Wind Ensemble (2023)

Last Tuesday is a piece that explores the diversity of emotions one can have in a single day. There’s moments of aggression, somberness, joy, excitement, and contentedness. These various emotions are mainly pushed by the rhythm and harmonic texture of the piece. The main melody is first introduced in unison at the beginning of the piece with dense harmony, after that the melody doubles in speed by the time we get to the A section of the piece. The melody, for the most part stays the same in this section because it represents the person themself. This also stays true for the B section which features solos by the trombone, bassoon, and horn etc. Even though both melodies stay the same without much variation, everything around the melody changes because that represents different circumstances and emotions within in a day. As stated previously there is a heavy emphasis on rhythm and that rhythmical support comes from the percussion and lower voices, they drive the piece which allows the harmony and melody to be more effective. There are also spotlight moments from the oboe which float on top of the harmonic texture with its lyrical solos. All of this blends together to express different nuances and emotions for the listener to hear and relate to.