Night & Day

This work is divided into two sections: Night and Day. The piece starts in the Night with a roll on the tam-tam supporting the soft plucking of the harp and feather-beamed pizzicato in the strings, meant to evoke the rustling of sounds in the darkness. The atmosphere grows increasingly uneasy with trills in the woodwinds and the eerie sound of the celesta, and then we burst into Day. Once again, the strings play pizzicato but now the rhythms are purposeful, and soon the strings receive reinforcement from the winds and brass. Day is a mixture of energetic and cheerful that borders almost on frantic, but ultimately climaxes on a joyous note: a burst of brilliant sunshine.