Doppler Canyon

Doppler Canyon

For solo tenor trombone, solo bass trombone, and 6-part trombone ensemble
Duration: 7 minutes.

Commissioned by David Begnoche

Program Notes, by the composer:

My good friend David Begnoche contacted me about the possibility of this new piece
for two soloists and trombone ensemble, as a way of reflecting the current 2020-2021 situation
with the global pandemic.
All musicians and ensembles have had to restructure their rehearsal and performance practices
to that of always using small groups of players being distanced, to protect from spreading the virus further. Dave’s idea was to go ahead and recognize this reality, and to compose a piece that calls
for antiphonal (and therefore distanced) players throughout the performing space.

He subsequently sent me the “pears for your heirs” idea, which puts forth the idea that all of us should plant trees from which our future generations would benefit. It is a selfless act, and one that we should all consider.

The result is that the 8 players of this ensemble (two soloists and 6 ensemble players) are divided into four pairs. (yes, pun intended), and that they are scattered throughout the hall. The two drawings below indicate my vision of how this might be accomplished. I imagined that in both scenarios from my title – whether a canyon, or when we are leaving treasures for those that follow – we are essentially putting things out there, with the hopes of receiving an echo of approval.

That is where Doppler comes in.
Of course, in a canyon, as we all know, if we were to receive an echo, the pitch would begin to drop.

This entire piece is based on things being echoed: sometimes in pure form – as in the best-case scenario with out future generations, or the pitch begins to drop, like it would thanks to the Doppler effect.
It would take way too much time to enumerate all of the echoes composed into the piece; suffice it to
say that there are many. The ability of the glissando effect on trombones provided a wonderful opportunity
to explore what I could do with the Doppler effect, as did the spacing of the 4 pairs of trombones around the performance space.

That being said, I don’t recommend too much distance being used, as the time-lag would prove difficult to uphold rhythmic stability. The two examples below indicate what I think to be possible solutions,
both for using a conductor, and to optimize the audience experience of the antiphonal effects.

Many thanks to David Begnoche for this opportunity to create such a unique piece!
Jim Stephenson ~ January 16, 2021