Aaron Copland "in memoriam" (1992)
(for Brass, Timpani and Percussion)

The dedication of this fanfare to Aaron Copland (1900-1990) is something of a coincidence, in that I was not even aware of his death when I started writing it early in 1992. After some initial sketches, I accidentally came across a compilation of Copland’s music and I was stunned to discover that he had died a couple of years before. I suppose that one can’t always be aware of the death of important people; perhaps I didn’t buy the paper that morning. The compilation contained, among other things, his Fanfare for the Common Man. I knew the Emmerson, Lake and Palmer version but couldn’t remember hearing Copland’s original score. Upon listening to it, I was amazed at the incredible space in the piece. It’s not often that you can say that a 3 minute piece sounded more like 10 minutes and intend it as a compliment. In spite of its stylistic purity, I find it to be a very demanding piece to listen to. I have not endeavoured to write a similar piece, though his fanfare has grown on me in an irrepressible way. For me, the memory of Aaron Copland conjures up a great sense of optimism about life and this is something that I search for in music.