How solemn, as by one
Lloyd Dugger narrator, and Erik Kibelsbeck, conductor.
Winner of the Allen E. Ostrander Memorial Trombone Composition Prize - 2007
How solemn, as one by one was written for and was first prize winner of the Allen E. Ostrander Memorial Trombone Composition Prize. The work is dedicated to those persons whose souls have been needlessly sacrificed in War.
I was drawn to write this work by Walt Whitman's powerful and evocative text. He treats visions of soldiers dying, stabbed and bleeding with a quiet reverance and an almost wounded beauty. The silhouettes of these unnamed men haunt the pages of the score, always reminding us that our conflicts pay a very real human price in suffering and death. This work attempts to pay homage to those persons by providing time, space, and sound as a reflection on the worth of the soul.