TRIPTYCH

Triptych for solo trumpet and orchestra was written during the Spring of 1991 through a commission from the International Trumpet Guild. It is a three-movement work lasting approximately sixteen minutes. The form is similar to the Christian triptychs in which there is a central panel and two flanking panels half its size that fold over it. Often Mary and the Child occupy the center panel while worshipers gaze upon the scene from each of the two smaller panels. Although there is no religious content in Triptych, the focus of the entire work is on the center or Main Movement. It is the longest and most involved movement including two cadenzas and a variety of moods. The first movement or Introduction is intended to draw one into the second with dramatic and impulsive gestures that leave one feeling the need for more. The third movement or Conclusion serves as a coda with a quick tempo and flourishes in all of the instruments. Thematic material from the first movement is heard again but in a bolder, more positive guise and the work concludes with one more full orchestral outburst.