In the Setting Sun
(Still Life)
Moe Touizrar
Ensemble: Wind Symphony
Duration: 07:00
Year of Composition: 2014
Commissioned by: McGill Wind Orchestra (Alain Cazes, director)
Premiered by: McGill Wind Orchestra (Alain Cazes, director)
Date of Premiere: April 8, 2014
Publisher: self-published
Available: Yes
How to Acquire: Composer
Links:
Commissioned by Alain Cazes in 2013 for a joint concert with a wind orchestra from the Canadian Forces in commemoration of the First and Second World Wars. This piece is the first part of a cycle comprised of the following works:
I. In the Setting Sun (Still Life) (2014), for wind symphony
II. Au Bord du Léthé (2016), for fifteen instruments
III. Bright, Blue, and Shimmering (2017), for orchestra
Program Notes:
The first piece in the cycle, In the Setting Sun (Still Life) for wind symphony, is a reflection on the stunning sunsets I experienced while posted in Kandahar, Afghanistan in 2010, and in Cyprus from 2011–2013 as a contractor with the Canadian Forces. My work was oriented toward the then emerging plight of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in combat soldiers, and in this piece, I try to make musical associations between my grief having lost friends to both death and extreme psychological trauma, and the extreme beauty of a sunset under such tragic circumstances. I was struck by the abundance of timbral possibilities afforded to me by the Wind Orchestra and decided that it was, in fact, possible to re-present the above-mentioned experiences using this medium.
(Moe Touizrar, interview with the McGill Reporter, November 20, 2017)
