Beneath the Crypt

"Beneath the Crypt" for Wind Ensemble is a musical response to the shooting that took place at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School on 2/14/2018. As a student who attended the school and experienced that day, there was a depth of emotion that couldn't be expressed with words. Beneath the Crypt depicts not just the event itself but also the movement in the world that commenced proceeding with it. It mournfully begins with the central motif introduced in the bass voices. As the motif shifts throughout the ensemble, it portrays the impact the shooting had not only on the school and families but on places around the world. It develops into this glorious statement striving for meaningful change but is inevitably smothered as time passes. The grandiose climax presents the idea of a brighter tomorrow yet is forgotten and set aside. It leads to the notion that history tends to repeat itself because even as human beings evolve, jealousy and contemptual feelings arise frequently in society. This deceptively challenging work requires extreme sensitivity in its execution to communicate this message.