Dark Fanfare, Op. 26 (2024)

• Commissioned by Benjamin Yates in honor of Mr. Nyline for the 2025 Luther College Low Brass Reunion.

Program Notes

• Dark Fanfare, Op. 26 is a haunting and powerful work that plunges the listener into a sound world of ominous grandeur and surreal unease. Inspired by the 1961 cinematic adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Pit and the Pendulum, directed by Roger Corman and starring Vincent Price, this composition evokes the film’s unsettling atmosphere and brooding tension through towering melodies, dissonant cluster chords, and gloomy harmonic progressions.

• Though cast in the form of a fanfare, this work subverts traditional expectations of the genre. Instead of a jubilant proclamation, the music delivers an ominous announcement—a harbinger of looming danger rather than a triumphant declaration. Set in post-Inquisition Spain, the film’s influences are subtly woven throughout the piece, anchoring the work in its historical and cultural context while distorting those traditions through a lens of horror and suspense. The resulting textures feel familiar yet unsettling, much like the ancient castle and dusty corridors in the film. A contrasting middle section brings forth serene melodies, accompanied by warm harmonies that offer a fleeting sense of hopefulness.

• Ultimately, Dark Fanfare, Op. 26 is a study in contrasts: darkness and grandeur, fear and serenity, dread and beauty. It invites the audience not only to listen, but to inhabit its world—a place where fear takes shape in sound, and every moment resonates with the swing of a pendulum.

  All scores are available as digital downloads (PDFs)