Ignite

Ignite! is an exciting orchestral overture that features a fiery, Celtic-influenced theme that harkens back to my old love of Irish folk music.  The piece features contrasting sections that pit small, soloistic passages against the fearsome power of the entire orchestra.  Every section of the ensemble is highlighted, with intricate rhythmic passages in the percussion, thunderous storm fronts in the brass, and high-energy, quick-paced passagework in the woodwinds and strings.  The piece opens with a solo for piccolo, accompanied by a light and agile percussion motif, and is interspersed with a contrasting theme of large, blocky parallel fifths that is first presented by the low woodwinds.  These motives are repeated, increasing in complexity and instrumentation with each iteration, frequently appearing as a modified round, or transformed to become a shimmering texture.  The middle section features fanfares from the brass interspersed with sparkling flourishes from the woodwinds and presentations of the opening theme by the strings.  A chromatic section featuring the bass instruments propels the piece to the opening material, now presented in its most powerful form until the grandiose conclusion.

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Duration: 7 min.