The Distant Fire

 

 

Program Notes:

This piece is a commemoration, a lament, a remembrance in the dark of violence and terror. It opens and closes with trumpet and organ, as at a funeral. Then, the dream intrudes, the scenes of explosions and sparks from far away, the rumblings and indistinct flashes of light, the scenes that we can't quite make out or understand. They fade, but not entirely, as we return to the present scene, brought back by the playing of "Taps", the traditional call for the fallen.

 

 

 

Notes on preparation and performance:

There are some unusual "sound effects"in the organ that are created by the particular registrations and note groupings I have indicated. The tone clusters in the pedals creat a rumbling effect rather than a discernable pitch, a rather unsettling sound that can sometimes sound like it is actually coming from outside the building. The "sparkles" in the middle section, quick flashes of sound played only on the highest pipes the instrument has, again are not really percieved at aparticular pitch, but as color and light from far away.

 

The middle section, where the optional percussion parts are, is in a very steady triple meter where the dotted eigth gets the beat.

 

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