Curtis Biggs: Pursuing Stillness for Solo Bass Trombone

This work expresses a search for inner calm and stillness in times of unrest. The beginning of the piece expresses a longing for something unknown. A hunting horn call enters, representing the pursuit or search. After a period of unrest and turmoil, there is calm. The piece ends with mental, emotional, or spiritual calm and stillness.

In a sense, the bass trombonist plays two different horns in this piece. The first is the open bass trombone sound. The performer also attaches a length of tube to one of the valves to create the second horn. This second horn has a drastically different timbre and is used both to create a delicate, distant timbre at softer dynamics, as well as intense and harsh effects at louder dynamics. At the end of the piece, a fluttering effect is achieved by rapidly moving the valve to switch between the two horns.

Pursuing Stillness was premiered by the composer at the International Trombone Festival in Columbus, Georgia on July 17, 2021