Duration: ca. 8’

Instrumentation: Piccolo, flute 1-4, oboe 1-2, english horn, Eb Clarinet, Bb clarinet 1-4, bass clarinet, bassoon 1-2, contrabassoon, SATB saxophones, horn 1-4, trumpet 1-4, trombone 1-2, bass trombone, euphonium 1-2, tuba 1-2, timpani, contrabass, percussion 1-4 (vibraphone, glockenspiel, marimba, tubular bells, suspended cymbal, triangle, castanets, crash cymbals, snare drum)

Premiere: April 3rd, 2022, University of Michigan Symphony Band; Michael Haithcock, conductor

Program Note: “the leaves scatter like foam” is a phrase penned by the poet Mark Strand in his significant work, Dark Harbor. I ran across it while flipping through an anthology of modern poetry, hungry to find a string of words that would bring clarity to the music I had written, as a flashlight’s beam brings brilliance to the shadows. I came to associate the piece and the line of poetry together, arriving at a sense of meaning in the following collection of ideas:

Delicate, aimless flitting; butterfly-like

Gleams of brilliance, some bashful, others pronounced

Profound beauty packaged in fleeting moments

Contending with impermanence

Thank you to my friend Alizabeth Nowland, who located that random snippet of poetry after I was convinced I would never find it again.