Winter Mix by Stephen Crawford

Three-movement suite of character pieces, based on North Dakota’s weather cycles of wind, snow, and ice. “Wind” is based around the constant “G” pedal tone. The movement of the wind can be heard in the middle section with the chromatic passage based on a whole-tone scale. “Snow” depicts the beauty of a gently falling snow. The chorale’s harmonies are “Debussy-esque” and inspired by his piano prelude, “Footsteps in the Snow.” “Ice” is a brittle, highly chromatic piece that captures the essence and unpredictability of ice. The performer literally slides up and down the keyboard on E-flat chromatic scale runs. Intermediate level, four-mallet solo.