Keystone Landscapes (2018)

for trumpet and wind ensemble

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KEYSTONE LANDSCAPES was commissioned by Dr. Timothy Winfield, professor of trumpet at Westminster College (PA.) to depict his home, Pennsylvania, and all its beauty. The two movements of KEYSTONE LANDSCAPES reflect two different ideas of the ‘Keystone State’.

Movement 1: “Rolling Hills & Wilderness” depicts just that - the vastness of the Allegheny Mountain. I traveled to Pennsylvania to familiarize myself with the nature I intended to depict and as a Floridian, the mountains (and the tightly woven interstates that scale them) left me breathless - a simultaneous feeling of awe and anxiety. I found the simplicity of the land calming, yet surreal and I aimed to reflect that in the beginning and ending figures. The extended trumpet melodies are intended to depict the endlessness of the wilderness - sometimes innocent and sometimes more threatening. 

Movement 2: “Land of Steel” portrays the export that the state is primarily known for: steel. The opening  resembles the assembly lines of the many factories that can be found in the cities (Pittsburgh, in particular). The trumpet part features an assortment of mutes (straight, cup, and harmon) to reflect the export itself.