Beneath a Canvas of Green

• This recording (live premiere performance) features Michael Compitello on marimba and multi-percussion!

As a composer, educator, and fervent advocate for music education, Aaron Perrine’s music aims to “inspire the next generation of music lovers.” In addition to works for soloists, chamber, and jazz ensembles, Perrine’s largest compositional output embraces and patronizes the wind band medium. A recipient of several awards including two Ostwald Awards for Pale Blue on Deep (2013) and Only Light (2015) and the College Band Director’s National Association Young Band Composition Contest Prize for Temperance (2017), Perrine’s music is widely performed, commissioned, recorded, and lauded.

Featuring four percussion soloists, Beneath a Canvas of Green, merges the dexterity of the percussion ensemble with the strength of the wind band. United by a permeating melodic and rhythmic motives, the two groups combine to create a work that highlights the dynamism of both mediums. The work opens with a frantic energy—as if overflowing with childlike vivacity. Unfolding into a reflective and meditative section for solely the percussion ensemble, the middle portion of the work lingers in time while exploring the various sounds of pitched and non-pitched percussion instruments. Similar to the opening, the work closes with an animated rush utilizing the opening melodic motives—a different view from beneath the canvas. The composer writes:

The title of the work, Beneath a Canvas of Green, is in reference to the many walks I used to take during the summers while growing up in northern Minnesota. I love the way the sunlight shines through the leaves—especially when there is a bit of wind to make the light dance and flicker.
I am also fascinated by the way in which the many things I pass by in life on a regular basis can appear so differently, depending on the time of day, season of the year, or mood I am in at the time. These thoughts were at the forefront as I composed Beneath a Canvas of Green. From the rush of sounds that open and close the piece, to its calm and delicate interior, the work utilizes a singular melodic idea viewed through a variety of different lenses.

—Tonya Mitchell