Instrumentation: 2.2.2.2 - 2.2 - timp - strings

“It is said that the darkest hour of the night comes just before the dawn. ” – Thomas Fuller

Mornings are powerful and evocative moments. The chorus of birds, one species after another, uniting in a wild and genuine polyphony while the dew and mist evaporate upon the rising of the sun, encouraging goose-bumps and shivers from an open window, tempered or exhilarated by a cup of coffee. Have you ever actively witnessed the sun’ s sultry and intense ascension from the cradle of the horizon? That is what this piece, "Aubade", or “Dawn Song, ” is about. An aubade is the twin of a night-time serenade; an aubade is a love song originating amongst the medieval Provençal troubadours, depicting the morning departure between two lovers. An aubade is a song in honour of the slow cosmic percolation of a late summer morning. On a personal level, the composer is reminded of his own experiences camping in Nor thern Canada as a young man–a simpler and less demanding time.

This piece formally begins the series I composed during the Covid-19 quarantine conditions of 2020, serving as potential contemporary preludes for each of Ludwig van Beethoven’ s nine symphonies–-his two hundred and fiftieth anniversary was this year!–-though they can all stand on their own on any program. The connection, in this case, is with his first symphony; I envisioned, once my piece concludes, his beautiful drawn-out chords presenting themselves–-the dawn of his continuing genius.