Flatline Tango

2019
For Wind Ensemble: [pic. 2 fl. ob. bn. 3 cl. bcl. 2 asx. tsx. bsx. 3 tp. 4 hn. 3 tbn. euph. tuba. db. tmp+5]
​Duration: c. 2'30"

​Premiered on May 2, 2019 by the Ryle High School Wind Symphony. Andrew Strawn, conductor.

Program Note

Although death seems inevitable, often we, as humans, attempt to wrangle with it in curious ways. Both avoiding dangerous situations and strutting head-first into clearly life-endangering circumstances. Nonetheless, if one is to challenge death himself, one might as well take a dance. The tango, as a form, allows for a curious level of tension. Flatline Tango, then, uses this to form an underlying, ceaseless danger. One slip ends it all. While rather grim and perhaps terrifying, it is the result of dancing with death.