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PROGRAM NOTE

Reflections explores different musical meanings of its namesake. Emotional connotations of the word such as meditation, introspection, and reminiscence, as well as more physical ones like brilliance, reverberation, inversion, and retrograde all served as inspiration. The music is held together by the interval of a falling seventh, introduced by solo trombone in the opening and permeating throughout. The orchestration aims for spaciousness and transparency, highlighting tone colors of individual instruments. The texture is also quite fragmentary, like a mosaic, and musical materials are "reflected" across different timbres. Percussion and piano play a special role in simulating resonance and reverberation. Ultimately, all instruments converge in a celebration of fireworks and lights.

The piece was commissioned by Dr. Robert Halseth, Director of Bands Emeritus, in appreciation for all the dedicated, courageous musicians in Symphonic Wind Ensemble (1993-2016) on the occasion of his retirement from California State University, Sacramento.