John McCabe

Canyons

Canyons is a response to the imposing landscape of the American South West, an exploration of musical ideas. The piece falls into four main sections. Following a build-up in the brass and woodwind, there is a slowish first section with massive chords, percussive pounding and some contrapuntal development of the work's main thematic idea. This is followed by a brief scherzo and then a slow movement which again derives from chordal material and another contrapuntal development. The fourth section is an extended Allegro Vivace, dominated by a dance-like theme introduced by the trumpets and an important motif heard at the start by the brass and percussion. After the final climax, the Adagio epilogue leads the music to a quiet close, the solo piccolo restating the cornet figure heard at the opening of the work. (Grade 4.5)
Duration: 15 mins.
Recorded on QPRM127D GUILDHALL SYMPHONIC WIND ENSEMBLE.