Daniel Armistead Music

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Perpetual Ascent

Concert Band Score & Parts

"In the process of letting go, you will lose many things from the  past, but you will find yourself." - Deepak Chopra

Prayer of Grief

String Orchestra Score & Parts

The Shadows of Time's Past

Brass Band Score & Parts

Ensemble

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In photography, the "golden hour" can be defined as the period  of daytime shortly after sunrise or before sunset, in which the sun is lower  in the sky, reducing the intensity of direct sunlight and illuminating the  earth in a golden shroud. Golden Hour Haze directly resembles this  phenomenon, providing the listener with feelings of hopefulness, while  simultaneously offering conflicting feelings of not knowing whether it is  actually day or night. This troubling problem culminates in the beginning and  end sections of the piece, in which an improvisatory flute solo and extended  piano techniques are utilized to convey the sense of mystery and  apprehension. Additionally, the use of non-traditional chord progressions and  chord extensions, the frequent section and orchestration changes, and rapid  modal and intervallic shifts in both the melody and harmony, are all employed  throughout the piece to give the listener the true sense that they are in  this haze, not knowing what to do.

Golden Hour Haze

Flute Trio

The Acquisiton is a single movement brass choir piece composed during the  fall of 2016. Showcasing the versatility of brass instruments, the piece  encompasses a variety of brief phrases each geared towards this flexibility.  Effects including the use of muted trumpets, piccolo trumpet, and flugelhorn  are used as coloring effects throughout the piece and provide an appeal to  the listener and a diversity in sound. Additionally, difficult techniques  such as woodwind-like runs and double tonguing, in combination with constant  rhythmic changes, keeps the piece driving forward and interesting throughout.                  The piece itself is about a search for identity. The process by which you  acquire this sense of individuality is strictly represented in the 3 main  sections of this piece: 1) Currently knowing who you think you are, 2) Not  knowing who you are, where you are going, or what you are going to do next,  and 3) Becoming comfortable with oneself, and finally acquiring you own sense  of uniqueness and self-distinction in the world. This transformative  phenomenon is primarily represented rhythmically through the  ambiguity/syncopations in meter, and alterations in motifs. Throughout the  piece, players are often playing in 2 different interpretations of a meters  at the same time, resulting in syncopations such as 8/8 being 4/4 and 12/8  being 6/4 (or vice versa). These ambiguities in meter progress throughout the  piece, with the middle section being quite uneasy in terms of subdivisions and  material, as the performers play in 2 completely different time signatures at  the same time.                 Motifs are augmented as well through these metric changes with the opening  trumpet motif returning several times through the piece, and the euphonium  melody (originally heard in m.54) returning as a slow horn solo in m.136. As  the tempo settles in the 3rd section, a new motif is introduced solidifying  this new-found sense of self. However, the beginning motif is also quoted subliminally  here (fist seen in m.144 by the tenor trombone) and is not forgotten,  representing that people do not change who they once were, but rather  continually grow into something new over time.

The Aquisition

Brass Ensemble

Ides of Solitude

Brass Quintet

Deceptio

Piano Solo

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Do Not Weep

SATB Full Score

Written during the summer of 2016, reflections is inspired from a variety  of piano genres including Chopin's piano nocturnes, and Joe Hisaishi's  compositions for anime movies. The composition itself is meant to instill the  feeling of hope to its listeners. This hope however is not the usual joyful  hope, it is a desperate, fighting hope; it's a longing for resolution and for  a grief that tries be quelled, but never completely is.

Reflections Upon Summer's Twilight

Piano Sheet Music

Originally written for the ACDA Choral Competition, Stars uses excerpts  from Emily Bront's famous poem "Stars". The poem discusses  various themes of love for the night sky and an ultimate abandonment due to  the sun's "hostile light". Written for SSAATTB, the piece begins in  a thinned texture with an agitated mood. Upon reaching the chorus, the SAT  voices divide into a full choir as the mood quickly shifts to themes of love.  Similar to the first phrase, the second also begins by using a thinned  texture before expanding and eventually exploring different key areas. The  piece comes to a close with a repetition of the chorus, ending on a tranquil  chord, resembling that of a calm night sky.

Stars

SATB Octavo

The main source of inspiration for In the Midst of Desolation arose  primarily from famous 20th century English poet, Robert Laurence Binyon's  poem, For the Fallen. The poem was written in mid-September 1914, just after  the outbreak of the First World War, and describes not only the psychological  effect instilled in people, but its impact on all of England. In the Midst of  Desolation strives to musically capture this fear and trepidation through its  daunting and enigmatic beginning (portrayed by the low strings and winds),  its violent and chaotic middle (represented by unison low strings/woodwinds  playing chromatically furious lines that coincide with brass hits), and  finally, its sacred and heavenly close, as all sections commence to play a  chorale style melody leading to a brass fanfare. It is this fanfare that  transcends all sorrow, anguish, and loss, knowing that "we will remember  them" and that "to the end, they remain" in our spirit.                 "With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,        England mourns for her dead across the sea.        Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,        Fallen in the cause of the free.                Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal        Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,        There is music in the midst of desolation        And a glory that shines upon our tears.                They went with songs to the battle, they were young,        Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.        They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;        They fell with their faces to the foe.                They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:        Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.        At the going down of the sun and in the morning        We will remember them.        They mingle not with their laughing comrades again;         They sit no more at familiar tables of home;         They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;         They sleep beyond England's foam.                But where our desires are and our hopes profound,         Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,         To the innermost heart of their own land they are known         As the stars are known to the Night;                As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,         Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;         As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,         To the end, to the end, they remain."        -Laurence Binyon

In the Midst of Desolation

Full Orchestra Score & Parts

The main inspiration for Dances at Dusk culminated from a sunset I  experienced during my 2017 summer. I had been touring with the Bluecoats Drum  &amp; Bugles Corps where we were stationed for a few days at War Memorial  Stadium in Little Rock, Arkansas. One evening on top of the stadium, I was  fascinated by a beautiful sunset, full of dissonant textures and vivid  colors, stretching across the horizon. The juxtaposition of light and dark  colors illuminated the sky and cast an ominous yet calming glow onto the  clouds dancing above the cityscape. These dancing clouds in combination with  the ongoing drum corps rehearsal below were the primary source of inspiration  for the piece.         Originally written for a trumpet ensemble with two players to a part  (except for piccolo), the piece utilizes almost all trumpets in standard  keys, but can also be performed with one player to a part. Furthermore, it  calls for mellophone in F, extending the range of the ensemble down to a C3.  Trumpet players can easily play this instrument using a trumpet mouthpiece or  adapter, but 2 alternate french horn parts are provided anyway. The piece  explores a contrast in sections, alternating between dark and cloudy passages  at the beginning, and a light triumphant fanfare stated several times  throughout the work. It ultimately ends with this same light fanfare,  overcoming the darkness, as the sun recedes and sets into the horizon  natures' true resolution.

Dances at Dusk

Trumpet Ensemble

Shalom Aleichem is a Jewish liturgical song composed by Israel Goldfarb  in 1918 that is sung every Friday to mark the eve of the Sabbath. Translated  from Hebrew as "peace be upon you", and according to the teaching  in the Jerusalem Talmud, two angels accompany people on their way back home  from synagogue on Friday nighta good angel and an evil angel. If the house  has been prepared for the Shabbat, the good angel utters a blessing that the  next Shabbat will be the same, and the evil angel is forced to respond  "Amen"; but if the home is not prepared for Shabbat, the evil angel  expresses the wish that the next Shabbat will be the same, and the good angel  is forced to respond "Amen". This iteration of the piece was  commissioned by 6-Wire of the University of Delaware Master Players Concert  Series for performance with the University of Delaware Chorale at Carnegie  Hall, New York, February 16th, 2019.                Shalom aleichem malachei ha-sharet malachei Elyon,        mi-melech malachei ha-melachim ha-qadosh Baruch Hu.                Bo'achem le-shalom malachei ha-shalom malachei Elyon,        mi-melech malachei ha-melachim ha-qadosh Baruch Hu.                Barchuni le-shalom malachei ha-shalom malachei Elyon,        mi-melech malachei ha-melachim ha-qadosh Baruch Hu.                {Be}Tzeitechem le-shalom malachei ha-shalom malachei Elyon,        mi-melech malachei ha-melachim ha-qadosh Baruch Hu.                Translation:        Peace be with you, ministering angels, messengers of the Most High,        Messengers of the King of Kings, the Holy One, Blessed be He.                Come in peace, messengers of peace, messengers of the Most High,        Messengers of the King of Kings, the Holy One, Blessed be He.                Bless me with peace, messengers of peace, messengers of the Most High,        Messengers of the King of Kings, the Holy One, Blessed be He.                Go in peace, messengers of peace, messengers of the Most High,        Messengers of the King of Kings, the Holy One, Blessed be He.

Shalom Aleichem

How fragile and fearful our world is of the things that are beyond our control...

This past year (2020), has redefined my concept of solitude in a way that I and many others have never experienced before. Unexpectedly thrown into a world of aloneness and segregation from society due to the Covid-19 Pandemic is not something I would wish upon anyone, especially to those who rely heavily on their interactions and relationships with others for their mental well-being and success as an individual. Having experienced these impacts firsthand, I often found myself for days upon days with nothing to do but burry my head deep into the abyss that is my artform of composition.

A career in composition in itself is already a lonely one, when you consider the number of hours you sit alone with your thoughts, developing your ideas, writing and re-writing sections again and again until just perfect. Fingers at the keyboard, and head in your score, I found myself experiencing a solitude unlike any other. A position where you go out anywhere in public, for a walk, to the grocery store, to the gas station, and people are genuinely scared…scared of you, your friends, and your family, if you come even a little bit close to them at all.

How fragile and fearful our world is of the things that are beyond our control...

To have lived through and experienced essentially a wasted year in our already short lives seems almost unthinkable. But as I worked day after day, playing, writing, and listening in this seclusion, it allowed myself to gain an appreciation for the calm; to experience our ever growing and better-connected world that we live in at a standstill; to finally take the time to question who I am, and what I want…

In Ides of Solitude, I pose this question to performers or listeners alike¬¬—was any of this really wasted time? Or was this just what you needed to better gain a sense of appreciation, self-respect, and mindfulness once given the opportunity to seize control over our lives again?

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