Always With Grace

Always With Grace, commissioned by the Lloyd C. Bird High School band, includes references to Amazing Grace. Not meant to be an arrangement of this wonderful melody, it is instead a tribute to this favorite hymn. From the opening bars of driving eighth-note rhythms through the solemn and lyric middle section, the concept of "time moving forward" is represented by numerous musical devices. As the composition concludes, the full hymn is heard while an off-stage saxophone quartet and metallic percussion sounds "tick away" to an intriguing, unique conclusion.