On Pastel Skies (for percussion quintet)

on pastel skies was “commissioned” (more in this case called for) by the young composers 2026 summer competition fit this team after a poem about the serene atmosphere of the Midsummer afternoon

So, on a bright summer day it shall be:
The great sun, my partner in joy,
Shall make, amid the satin and the silk,
Your dear beauty lovelier still;

The sky, all blue, like a tall canopy,
Shall quiver sumptuously in the long folds
Above our two happy brows, grown pale
With pleasure and expectancy;

And when evening comes, the breeze shall be soft
And play caressingly about your veils,
And the peaceful stars looking down
Shall smile benevolently on man and wife.

The gestation of this piece (initial thought, even before the entry of the first note) was an image of a dreamy Florida sunset over the Gulf of Mexico with this image the piece will transport you to another dimension of into the pastel pink, orange, and red opalescent skies

instrumentation

xylophone (doubling on glockenspiel and crotales, /w large zill bell attachment

vibraphone I /w sus  and Z.bell and dull metallic object (something like a Burma bell)

vibraphone II /w sus and Z.bell and dull metallic object (something like a Burma bell)

Marimba I /w sus and temple blocks

Marimba II /w Chimes, sus and temple blocks and large, vibrating drum ( tom or surdo ect.)

On Pastel Skies.pdf