Soliloquies From A Quiet Place
Two Solo Trumpets and Wind Orchestrasoliloquy
n.
“An act of speaking one’s thoughts aloud when by oneself or regardless of any hearers”
During summer 2018 I took a vacation at a family cabin on the banks of Buffalo Pound Lake in Saskatchewan, Canada. It is a beautifully isolated location, which provides for a near perfect view of the night skies. Gradually, as your eyes adjust to the dark, more and more stars reveal themselves to you. Time seems to stop, and you can’t help reflecting in every way possible. As insignificant as viewing the heavens like this can make you feel, you also know your fleeting view is a unique moment, a moment you will never see end.
One night, having sat outside until the sun began to rise, I went back inside and wrote a short chorale at the piano. It didn’t have a place in any piece I was writing at that time but knew those few measures of reflection would find their place in a composition in the future – and it is from those few measures that Soliloquies From A Quiet Place grew.
Told through the two trumpet soloists, these are my reflections and thoughts from that night and many others sat gazing in to the heavens.
Soliloquies From A Quiet Place was written for soloists Ryan Anthony and Jens Lindemann, conductor Jerry Junkin, and The University of Texas Wind Ensemble. It is dedicated, with enormous gratitude, to Dr. Brian Berryman.
Peter Meechan 2019