Info: Composition finished 2022, approx. duration 6 min, for brass quintet (also arranged to include piano).
Program notes: Dirge from an Imagined World is based on a piece that I composed and my brother and I used to sing when we were pretending to be magical creatures we made up called Doncys (pronounced like donkeys). Doncys sing a version of this piece as a community ritual and dirge when a Doncy has died. This piece is in a form reminiscent of a 21st century take on a Baroque fugue. In the middle there is a big climax where the dead Doncy is thrown into a huge fiery pit that consumes them. This dramatic ritual is followed by two approximately 6 second long silences. There are other moments of silence in this piece as well. The silences in this dirge are as important and a part of the music as the notes I wrote; the Doncys use silence to honor the Doncy who has died.
Performances: June 13, 2022 premiere, Benaroya Hall, Seattle Symphony musicians, conductor Lee Mills.