Wally Gunn | Lonely Road

Lonely Road
2011 (08:00)
Flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, percussion, violin, viola, violoncello, double bass

Lonely Road
Most of us live through a time in our lives when we have to be so focused on something that it can take us away from the people closest to us. Sometimes it takes us away physically, and we have to be in a different place to them. Or sometimes we can be physically present, but so consumed that we may as well be absent. It’s a particular kind of isolation. Kind of like driving by yourself, at night, down a long, lonely road. This piece tries to capture that feeling. But also tries to illustrate those fleeting moments of wonder and beauty and joy that you sometimes encounter along the way. Like a flash of coloured lights beside the highway, or a glimpse of the moon through the windshield. Those things keep you company until you can be with your people again.
– WG, 2011

Instrumentation
Flute
Oboe
Clarinet in Bb
Bassoon
Horn in F
Trumpet in Bb
Trombone
Percussion (vibraphone, 3 suspended cymbals, high tom, mid tom, low tom, bass drum)
Piano
Violin
Viola
Violoncello
Contrabass

First performed by
Shaun Barlow, flute
Stuart Breczinski, oboe
Alejandro T. Acierto, clarinet
Stephanie Patterson, bassoon
Julia Brooks, horn
Jacob Walls, trumpet
Matt Barbier, trombone
Peter de Jager, piano
Ben Reimer, percussion,
Heidi Achaul-Yoder, violin
Patti Kilroy, viola
Nick Photinos, violoncello
Will Hack, contrabass
Brad Lubman, conductor
at Bang On A Can Summer Festival 2011

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