He Died in the Fog

Featured in the Redlands Recital Series An Evening with RSO Brass

for Brass Quintet

April 17th.2027 @7:30PM PST at

First Presbyterian Church of Redlands

Program Notes

He Died in the Fog is a title I've been sitting on since sophomore year of high school, awaiting the day I compose something that effectively and properly fits and represents the title as a whole. Fast forward to the year 2024, at the end of my Junior year of undergrad the title I was struggling to find a use for six years ago, has placed itself comfortably on the title page of this multi-movement brass quintet that was written for the chamber ensemble, the Atlantic Brass Quintet. Heavily influenced by my research on the 20th century composers Margaret Bonds and Florence Price, as well as becoming enamored by the catchy rhythms and vocal melody lines of Cab Calloway's music. He Died in the Fog leans more to the side of jazz and blues. As aforementioned He Died in the Fog is a multi-movement piece split up into three sections. Movement I, "The Wanderer," movement II, "The Second Line," and the last movement titled "(What Comes) After Life (?)."

Movement I

The Wanderer

In the first movement of He Died in the Fog the quintet acts as the unsettling presence of the fog rolling in. Quietly making its appearance known and spreading at a seemingly slow pace. "The Wanderer" opens the piece with a sense of mystery and inklings of dread. The paths that were once clear become blurred as the fog grows thick blanketing the land in an opaque and milky-white.