Duration: 11:00
B flat trumpet, piano
Written for Marsing, Idaho music teacher Dawn Sandmeyer. Dawnings consists of eight short movements whose titles each contain her name.
I. The Break of Dawn starts off with a rousing and energetic burst of rhythmic excitement in 5/8.
II. Dawn's Early Light is a melodically gorgeous and lyrical piece, and the longest of all the movements.
III. A New Day Dawning uses the rhythm of "cock-a-doodle-doo" to signal the dawning of a new day. In this movement the same material is repeated five times: exactly note for note in the piano part, and transposed to different pitches in the trumpet, resulting in different harmonic relationships which transforms the character and mood each time through.
IV. Watching For Tomorrow's Dawn is another slower movement in a graceful 5/4 meter, once again lyrical and flowing, with a muted trumpet. It leaves you hanging on the final note...still watching.
V. Awaken the Dawn begins with a bit of staccato interplay between the trumpet and piano and quickly builds to a dawn-awakening fortissimo.
VI. Dusk to Dawn is a little ambiguous in its tonality and shifting meters, but is somehow very satisfying.
VII. Darkest Before the Dawn is pretty much what it sounds like - dark and brooding, making extensive use of augmented chords in the piano part.
VIII. Dawned on Me is a laid-back, jazzy piece that runs the risk of crossing over into cheesy territory, but somehow it fits.
$24.00