When conductor Rune Bergmann asked me to write a work that featured the orchestral brass and percussion section paired with an organist and youth brass players, I was at a loss on to how to approach this. That was when I decided to reach out to my friend Walt DeBoni, a terrific photographer, to ask if he had any photos that could inspire me. He replied with a photo of galloping Hungarian horses he took many years ago, and that was when I was struck with an idea. I decided to keep the professional-level players together on stage playing the Fanfare and Fugue, and have the youth players spatialized around the concert hall (placed in various areas of the balconies and loges) playing materials that evoked the sounds of galloping horses. This would create an antiphonal experience that would have the audience hearing music coming from the stage as well as galloping musical materials surrounding them from all other directions. This was very exciting to me being that I have been interested in spatialized elements for quite some time and have started to incorporate this into my recent compositions.
