Program Notes for October Night
This piece was written in the fall of 1986 and was my first serious attempt at composition. The piece is dedicated to marimbist Gordon Stout, a former teacher and good friend. The work was inspired by the famous Dylan Thomas poem, Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night. The poem conveys two very powerful and very different moods: one of sorrow and deep remorse and the other of aggression and anger. Thus a piece in two movements evolved depicting these contrasting emotions.
The first movement is a chorale painting the sadness expressed in the poem of Thomas' father's impending death. It is written in a romantic style and moves between the keys of C and B-flat major. Movement two is an energetic allegro depicting the intensity of the poet's emotions as h begs his father to fight against death. It develops motivically through the use of perfect 5ths and major 6ths separated by minor 2nds and augmented 4ths. It is in sonata form and concludes the work with the coda from the first movement.
