There were so many things I couldn’t say in French, because I really wanted to say them in music. Not that I didn’t like the French language; it was no doubt beautiful.
But it was no substitute for a mother tongue – a language that needed no words. Inspired by a moment when I was teaching high school French to a student who was counting down minutes to leave French class early, to get to band practice. He played the euphonium. At the time, I didn’t even know what the instrument was! But I understood his eagerness to get out of class. This piece is a little homage to all the joy that’s found when we finally get to get to the music. I tried to capture the vitality & effervescence that came whenever I got to sit at an instrument, or make music with others. When time felt like it flowed, and I felt alive, driven & enveloped by a wordless joy.