Composer Michael Markowski (b. 1986) claims that he is “fully qualified to watch movies and cartoons” on the basis of his bachelors degree in film from Arizona State University. Despite this humility regarding his musical training (and glossing over the performance of his joyRIDE at Carnegie Hall when he was a high school senior, and his Frank Ticheli composition prize for Shadow Rituals the following year), he has gained attention as a composer of unique and sophisticated works for wind bands at all levels, film, and other media. His works are being performed across the United States and around the world, leading to an ever-growing list of commissions and guest appearances. Learn more about him at his website, IMDB, the Wind Repertory Project, Metropolitan Music Community, the Everything Band Podcast, and United Under Arts.
Markowski explains the origin of Walden (revised in 2023) below:
Walden was originally composed during the summer of 2011. I was still living in Arizona at the time, and in an attempt to beat the blistering July heat, I somehow convinced myself to stay up all night long and sleep the summer days away. At around 10:00 P.M., I would start my day, composing undisturbed. Although it only lasted a few weeks, it was one of the most serene and magical times of my creative life.
Every morning after writing, around five o’clock, I would walk to Kiwanis Lake, a little man-made oasis in the middle of my neighborhood. It was still dark out, and the mist from freshly sprinklered lawns provided a much-needed coolness to the morning air. As the sunrise warmed the dark blue sky with oranges and pinks, the first quacks from sleepy-eyed ducks signaled the park was open for business. Lawn mowers soon revved up, cars buzzed by, and the rest of world woke up.
It was inspiring to watch nature transform from a great stillness to a menagerie full of life and sounds and color and motion. I was transported. For half an hour each morning, I could pretend that I was anywhere except the hot Arizona desert, wandering somewhere in the deep lushness of New England, staring out towards a gentle pond that I’ve only read about in books.
Definitely check out Markowski’s website for a very nice recording of Walden and a perusal score. Also look for it on the Wind Repertory Project. Here is a performance video:
Here also is the original version. You can hear Markowski’s changes from the very first note!
The name “Walden” is a reference to Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts, which derives a good part of its fame from the attention that the author Henry David Thoreau paid to it in his writings and in his life, especially in his book Walden. See for yourself in this CBS Sunday Morning opinion piece: