Withering Grass for trombone and piano (2006).
Withering Grass is loosely based on the concept of the isorhythmic motet, where a color (pitch pattern) and talea (rhythmic pattern) loop at varying rates and meet together at the end of the piece. In this case, my concern was more with the color, represented here by a falling series of arpeggios. The arpeggios symbolize the various stages of life from infancy (a single note starts the series) to old age (an extended arpeggio slowly crawls across the entire range of the keyboard). The title is derived from Isaiah 40: 6-8, “The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.” This piece was written in loving memory of Mabel Coulson Fry, 1908-2006.
