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Echoes
for piccolo flute
About the work
Echos for piccolo and piano was commissioned by Torin Olsen for his performance in the piccolo performance competition of the 2006 National Flute Association convention in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The work begins with a soft and angelic prelude that develops through both extreme ranges of the piano and the low, lush beautiful resonance of the piccolo.
At the end of the prelude, a rhythmic dance starts to pulse in the time 17/16 while much of the other material stays in 3/4 or 4/4.
As the many rhythms play juxtaposed with each other, small two beat fanfares interrupt the energy, bringing the focus back to a single pulse.
A joyous dance incorporating the previous fanfares, metered in 2/4 acts as the center of the work.
As it winds down reminiscent echos of the prelude are heard as the music is unsure if it wants to fully recapitulate into the music of the beginning or continue to dance.
It decides to do both, giving the opening material a dance like connotation. Echos is scored for piccolo and piano and lasts 4 minutes.
Echos is the antithesis of a new concerto for piccolo and orchestra commissioned by the McKeesport Symphony Orchestra and music director Bruce Lauffer which was be premiered in May 2007.
About the composer
Todd Goodman was born in Bedford, Pennsylvania in 1977. He has studied at Duquesne University (MM),
the University of Colorado at Boulder (BM), l’Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris, France, with the
European American Musical Alliance and at the Aspen Music Festival in Aspen, Colorado. His principal
composition teachers have been David Stock, George Tsontakis, Richard Toensing and Louis Jorge
Gonzalez.
Mr. Goodman has received commissions from a wide variety of players and ensembles across the United
States. With many performances in the United States his works are also performed in Canada, Mexico,
Europe and Asia. Mr. Goodman has served as the Altoona Symphony Orchestra’s composer-in-residence
from 2002 to 2006 and currently serves as the resident composer of the McKeesport Symphony Orchestra
near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Since his beginning in writing for the orchestra, he has been
commissioned twelve new orchestral works since 2002 including his Symphony No.1 “Fields of Crimson”
[2003], Fanfare for a New Era [2003], Sketches of Home [2005], Concerto for Alto Saxophone and
Orchestra [2005] and Concerto for Piccolo and Orchestra [2007] as well as commissions for chamber and
wind ensemble. He feels that the audience connection and participation in his music is vital to its success.
He wants people to leave a concert feeling that they experienced a work rather than just observing.
Mr. Goodman has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts for his work with the
Altoona Symphony Orchestra as well as grants from the University of Colorado Entrepreneurship Center
for his work, Symphony No. 1 “Fields of Crimson”. Mr. Goodman has also won such notable prizes as
the prestigious Gold Farbe award from the University of Colorado fi lm department for his scores to two
short fi lms Hypnotic Reverie and Light Autumn by writer/director Ryan McVeigh. As well as the Anderson
Award for composition and the Milan Desi Derri prize for his Concerto for Alto Saxophone [2005]. His
collaborations with other artists can be seen in projects like Fields of Crimson and Some Assembly
Required with author Justin Cober-Lake, Sketches of Home with painter Kevin Kutz and River of Sorrows
with author Dennis McIlnay.
Th e world premiere of his Symphony No. 1 “Fields of Crimson” was released on CD through Wrong
Note Media, Inc. in July 2003, marking the 140th anniversary of the subject of this work, the battle of
Gettysburg. Th is work has been very well received throughout the United States and Europe. Mr.
Goodman’s new work for wind ensemble River of Sorrows will be released on a recording of the
Duquesne Wind Ensemble conducted by Robert Cameron in early 2007. He is also working on a CD of
his Wind Concertos (Piccolo, Alto Saxophone, and Bass Clarinet) which will be recorded by the Duquesne
Contemporary Ensemble with David Stock conducting in 2007.
Mr. Goodman’s most recent projects include Echos for piccolo and piano commissioned by Torin Olsen
for the 2006 National Flute Assocation Convention. A Concerto for Bass Clarinet and Orchestra for the
Duquesne Contemporary Ensemble, a Concerto for Piccolo and Orchestra for the McKeesport
Symphony Orchestra and a work for the Pennsylvania Lions All-State Band to be premiered in Chicago, IL
in July 2007. Mr. Goodman has also been commissioned to write a work in celebration of the 50th
Anniversary season of the Pittsburgh Civic Orchestra to be premiered during their 2008-2009 season.
Mr. Goodman currently resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Katie, son Emmerson and their
St. Bernard “Doc.”
