At an Old Trysting-Place

Listen to the work here!
 
At an Old Trysting-Place is an arrangement of the third movement of Edward MacDowell’s 10-movement suite for solo piano, Woodland Sketches, op 51, originally written in 1896. MacDowell wrote the piece during a stay at his summer retreat in New Hampshire, and each movement touches on MacDowell’s reflections on his pastoral surroundings. A “trysting-place” might be considered roughly as a secret meeting space, such as that which might be used by two lovers acting out their romance in secret, a fitting setting for the lush greenery of New England in the summer.
 
This arrangement is written for an instrumental ensemble of arbitrary instrumentation. Of note is that the voicings throughout are fundamentally in four voices, and these four voices have been duplicated to accommodate musicians who are playing transposing instruments. This style of arrangement can serve two pragmatic purposes. It is a fitting simple chorale for ensembles of young musicians, in school programs where the instrumentation of a band or orchestra (or even choral ensemble) can vary wildly. Additionally, the work is optimally designed for (and written primarily for the purpose of) being used in high school and university conducting classes, and is modeled after pedagogical exercises found in conducting textbooks. Such classes are often taught with a variety of string, wind, brass, and percussive instrumentalists, and vocalists, and the flexibility of this arrangement allows students to conduct their peers in a productive environment.