Instrumentation: for reed quintet (Ob., Cl., S Sax., Bsn., B.Cl.)

Duration: 11’15”

Program notes

After Hours is a collection of short and characterful movements for reed quintet written in a couple weeks during the hours between work and sleep. Other than the time of day the music was written, there’s nothing overtly nocturnal about it.

I. Wayfarer pays homage to the sci-fi book series of the same name. I like to think the music and the universe that queer PNW author Becky Chambers conjures share a lot—warmth, energy, emotional intelligence, hopefulness, with much to teach us about accepting people and beings that might at first unsettle us. (Chambers’ books are much better than my music, so please check them out!)

II. Late Spring evokes the mixed feelings I have about the gloomy, soggy weather of my Pacific Northwest home, especially when it sticks around a little longer than it’s supposed to. I love the rain and the cozy lifestyle it encourages. When the sun actually starts to come out enough to warm your skin in the spring, there is a different kind of joy I forget I need that often ends up quashed too soon by rain’s return.

In III. Talk Back the clarinet passes a moody, lopsided groove around the quintet before the music briefly makes its way somewhere more pastoral. The groove music steals back in lightly disguised, builds to a frantic climax, and melts away.

IV. Boss Fight is a whole lot of fun, and if you’ve ever played video games, those two words are enough to call up strong memories of sweaty hands, a backflipping stomach, incredulity, resignation, and, somehow, eventual elation—all of which you’ll find in this music.