Cold Wind in a Fallow Field

I took a walk along Michigan’s Kal-Haven trail on one of those autumn days on which the sun is warm but the wind is bitter cold.  The bent-over stalks of wheat and corn glowed a bright and friendly beige but the wind was an icy reminder that the fields were dead for the year.

Click here to see more of my photographs from the trail.

I was intrigued by this contrast and set out to create something similar in music. That said, the piece is not programmatic – there is no ‘field motive’ pitched against a ‘wind motive,’ or anything like that. Instead, Cold Wind in a Fallow Field presents a sonic world rich with contrasts both subtle and severe, befitting the natural scene that inspired it, all within a sullen, contemplative mood suggestive of a tired autumn hike.