“It is said that the darkest hour of the night comes just before the dawn.” –Thomas Fuller

Mornings are powerful and evocative moments. The chorus of birds, one species after another, uniting in a wild and genuine
polyphony while the dew and mist evaporate upon the rising of the sun, encouraging goosebumps and shivers from an open
window, tempered or exhilarated by a cup of coffee. Have you ever actively witnessed the sun’s sultry and intense ascension from
the cradle of the horizon? That is what this piece, Aubade, or “Dawn Song,” is about. An aubade is the twin of a night-time
serenade; an aubade is a love song originating amongst the medieval Provençal troubadours, depicting the morning departure
between two lovers. An aubade is a song in honour of the slow cosmic percolation of a late summer morning. On a personal
level, the composer is reminded of his own experiences camping in Northern Canada as a young man–a simpler and less
demanding time.

This piece formally begins the series I composed during the Covid-19 quarantine conditions of 2020, serving as potential
contemporary preludes for each of Ludwig van Beethoven’s nine symphonies–-his two hundred and fiftieth anniversary was this
year!–-though they can all stand on their own on any program. The connection, in this case, is with his first symphony; I
envisioned, once my piece concludes, his beautiful drawn-out chords presenting themselves–-the dawn of his continuing genius