Loss Verses
in memory of a friend
Peter Meechan
Ensemble: Wind Orchestra
Solo Instrument: Flugelhorn
Grade: 4
Duration: 09:15
Year of Composition: 2020
Commissioned by: Consortium led by Josh Ganger
Premiered by: Illinois State University Wind Symphony (Anthony Marinello, conductor; Anne McNamara, flugelhorn)
Date of Premiere: November 15, 2021
Publisher: Peter Meechan
Year of Publication: 2021
Publisher Catalog Number: PMM155
Available: Yes
How to Acquire: Publisher, Purchase
Links:
Solo flugelhorn and wind orchestra
Program Notes:
Loss is so very, very, hard. Nothing can prepare you for it, for the devastating pain it causes; or for the moments it catches you so unaware, where – seemingly from nowhere – it bites. And losing a friend when you are not able to say goodbye properly, when you are not able to gather with other friends and loved ones to share stories, share grief, find comfort is so very, very, tough. The pain is like being in a labyrinth; unsure of how I got in, and not knowing a way out. Each way you turn it is different, and for sure some directions are better than others, but most bring you back into the labyrinth. Ultimately there are no shortcuts – loss is so very, very, hard.
Writing music at a time of loss, and this specific time and this specific loss is the same; Loss Verses is an expression of that labyrinth – there are no rousing chorus, but instead echoes, moments, reflections, the new and the old, in the shape of verses, each so very, very, painful to write.
(Peter Meechan)