The Loop

Order includes a digital (PDF) copy of the full score and parts as well as the reference and performance tracks. Please note: PDFs cannot be printed. Orders for a printed set of the score and parts can be placed through Murphy Music Press: http://murphymusicpress.com/products/w-830

Instrumentation: Flex band and electronics, five parts as follows:
1 Piccolo, flute, oboe, Bb clarinet, and/or soprano sax
2 Flute, oboe, Bb clarinet, Bb trumpet, and/or alto sax
3 Bb clarinet, Bb trumpet, alto sax, tenor sax, trombone, euphonium, and/or bassoon
4 Bb clarinet, bass clarinet, tenor sax, baritone sax, trombone, euphonium, and/or bassoon
5 Bassoon, trombone, bass trombone, tuba, and/or double bass

Duration: 5′

Grade: Flex, 3-5

Program Notes: The Loop (2021) is inspired by Chicago and its promise to African-Americans who came to the city during The Great Migration. It opens with a train sound, representing the trains migrants took up to the city from places like Mississippi and other southern states. It also nods to Chicagoʼs L train, which sounds throughout the city and circles a downtown area appropriately referred to as “The Loop.“ The piece is comprised of musical loops and also embodies the repetitive and rhythmic nature of factory labor, which the majority of black southerners found themselves doing once they made it to the big city – including my own grandfather who worked in a can factory. The piece has a driving and determined energy, much like the spirit that is needed when anyone migrates to a new home for a better life. For fun, I added house beats (house music started in Chicago!) and the opening horn motifs are inspired by Chicago native Kanye Westʼs, All of The Lights. A little side note: Iʼm originally from Chicago, as well as my entire family, and hold this great city very close to my heart.

The Loop was commissioned by a consortium of of ensembles led by Kaitlin Bove and Pierce College.