Helepole, for grade 1 band (2018) – 2'15"
Helepole is named after a type of ancient siege tower that covered a battering ram (the name means “taker of cities” — helepoles were serious business). The piece is in three sections — the first section is in D Phrygian, and introduces two themes, one with assertive leaps up and down, and the second with lyrical melodic arc. The second section, in G Aeolian, develops and combines these themes before building up to a dissonant chord which heralds the third section — a return to D Phrygian, this time with a brake drum being bludgeoned.