DESCRIPTION:
In late 2005 the Northdale Concert Band lost one of its most dedicated and loyal member, tuba player Bob MacLean. I was approached shortly after and asked to write a piece to honour him. I wanted to create a piece that would not only mourn and honour the dead but would also console and comfort the living...to serve as a reminder that although the loss of someone can be a painful one, death should not be viewed as an end but as a beginning.

It is unified by two elements:

1. A three-note topos (Ab-G-D in measure 2), and
2. The Introitus of the Requiem Mass (taken directly from the Liber Usualis) - the phrase "Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine" (Eternal rest grant unto them, oh Lord) is indicated in the score.

The piece opens with a canon that leads to a short lament. A fantasia dominates the middle part of the piece with a fragment of the chant. The full chant is heard in the trumpets against a running counter-melody in the bass. At the final section the topos is transformed thereby giving the piece a feeling of hope - redemption from the dark feeling of loss.

Performed by the Festival Wind Orchestra (Keith Reid, conductor)
14 December 2013

This piece is unpublished.