Posted by Doug Whitten on March 12, 2002 at 00:06:28:
In Reply to: Ghost Train Triptych posted by Billy M. on March 11, 2002 at 20:34:03:
The composer, Eric Whitacre, wrote the piece for the band at UNLV. It was his very first attempt at writing for an instrumental ensemble. Before this piece, he wrote only throat music (choir). The melodic material (the opening flute solo) is actualy his ex-girlfriends phone number as it sounds on the telephone keypad. Fun trivia.
The first movement is the most commonly performed and is accessible to better high school bands as well as college bands. The tuba part is not very "choppy" but there is a nice little solo in the third movement. In the short time since this piece was written (1995,I think) it has become a standard in the wind band repertoire.