Instrumentation:

2 Flutes
2 Oboes (2nd. dbl English Horn)
2 Clarinets in Bb
2 Bassoons

4 Horns in F
3 Trumpets in Bb
2 Trombones
Tuba

Timpani
Percussion 1 : Xylophone, Glockenspiel, Marimba, Crotales
Percussion 2: Chimes, Snare Drum, Triangle, Bass Drum, Castanets, Tom Toms (2), Crash Cymbals Percussion 3: Sus. Cymbal, Tambourine, Tam-tam, Anvil, Crash Cymbals

Harp

Violin I
Violin II
Viola
Violoncello
Contrabass

Duration: 6:30

After completing The Unspeakable—one of my heaviest pieces to date—I wanted to take on a lighter project. In early 2023 I was presented with the opportunity to collaborate with the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, and I immediately knew that this would be the perfect setting for a fun, energetic piece.

Though I began composing without any specific symbolism in mind, the piece quickly took on a meaning of its own. The wonder and excitement of the music came to represent the indescribable feeling of traveling to an unfamiliar place: the almost magical, otherworldly energy of somewhere so beautiful, yet—to someone such as myself who grew up in a small, rural town—so foreign. Places like this are abundant, and, to a short-term visitor, can seem completely surreal. We cherish the memories of these places for a lifetime, and can even return to visit again. But no photograph or video or story recounted in old age can convey the fantastical experience of arriving for the first time in these Magnificent Places.

April 2023 - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania