Product Description
Programme Notes:
Fanfare: "Grit" evokes the brassy and rousing tropes of adventure movie soundtracks and Saturday morning cartoons, such as those written by John Williams, Shirley Walker, among others. Writing this piece was an escapade to my own musical roots for this was the first type of music I had been exposed to as a child: incidental music accompanying perilous quests, hairbreadth escapes, and other trials blocking the heros path to victory and redemption. I wanted to compose a piece that harkens back to the music that I first fell in love with, that opened up the gates of a legacy--symphonic classical music--thats always been my solace in trying times.
What is grit? Grit is the dirt between smiles and between barefoot toes. Grit is a hard-boiled detective. Grit is tilling the tough soil for the possibility of a beautiful blossoming of flowers. Grit is saying, "See you soon," and making sure it happens. Grit is helping others when its hard to help yourself. Grit isnt easy bravery, but the kind of courage you need to build up brick by brick. The obligatory synonyms: courage, bravery, pluck, mettle, and spirit.
Finally, this composition, the fourth of my so-called "Beethoven Episodes", was written to accompany Ludwig van Beethovens 4th Symphony. This work was written on his 250th anniversary, coincidentally during the Covid-19 Pandemic of 2020, and is the sum of my feelings wrought from that experience. Yet this work was completed on Canadian Thanksgiving, and is also an expression of all that I am grateful for, from the bottom of my heart.
About the Composer:
Benjamin Sajo (b. 1988) is a Canadian composer of contemporary classical music, as well as an educator. Since developing a fiercely independent creative voice upon the completion of his studies at Western (2010) and McGill Universities (2013), he continues to find inspiration from the intersection of mythology, art, and nature upon the contemporary human experience. In 2019, he released his premiere album of original music, The Great War Sextet: Canadian War Poetry with Trombone & Strings, with support from the Ontario Arts Council. He is a member of SOCAN and the League of Canadian Composers.
This product was created by a member of ArrangeMe, Hal Leonard's global self-publishing community of independent composers, arrangers, and songwriters. ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.