Autumn Triptych

A three-movement work inspired by three paintings, each related to autumn.

I. Falling Up is a reflection of Jackson Pollock's "Autumn Rhythm" (1950), a tangled sea of swirls of paint that merge into a few larger circular rings embedded in the painting. These rings become an organizing principle; the overall form of of this work consists of a series of rotations of the original thematic material, where the order, orchestration, and character of the material vary in each rotation. 

II. Evening Glow is inspired by a painting of the same name by 19th-century British painter John Atkinson Grimshaw. It captures the peaceful yet sorrowful, longing quality of the painting. Two conflicting motifs – the persistence of time and that of life – struggle throughout until a chorale melody breaks through at the end. 

III. Red is an interpretation of the intensely vibrant and fiery depiction of a red maple leaf in Georgia O'Keeffe's "The Red Maple at Lake George" (1926). The music references different associations with the color red, from the fiery and sassy to the robust and vibrantly radiant. 

Commissioned by the 12 member schools of the Atlantic Coast Conference Band Directors Association.