Program Note

Steps is an endless, wandering melody.  Its peaceful moments can be attributed to the countless hours I spent on the beaches of Montaña de Oro while writing it. Similar to another recent work, on the edge for alto saxophone and guitar, Steps depicts hiking solo in California.  Two landmarks influenced the shape of this movement.  The first is Tahquitz Peak in Idyllwild, a 360-degree viewpoint at 8,000 feet, where mountains, desert, distant lakes, alpine greenery, and rock formations can all be seen from one viewpoint.  Likewise, when hiking the coast in Montaña de Oro, something new comes into view with every turn, from sand dunes to beach coves, morros, and grassy fields.  Steps portrays the ability to see such a variety of ecosystems and terrain all at the same time, a California feature that I have become fascinated with.  Landscapes that come into view while climbing a hill are represented in the music by textures that emerge and fade.  A choir of clarinets creates murmuring effects, while swelling drones pass from one instrument to another, the brass grows into chorales, and the saxophone solo constantly meanders.  Every time a theme returns, its profile changes within its context, just as the view of a landscape may reveal different sights when it is looked at from a different viewpoint.

Steps was written for and premiered by the California Polytechnic State University Wind Ensemble, conducted by Andrew McMahan in June 2015.