Duration: 4′
- Trumpet in C, percussion (vibraphone, sus cym and drum kit)
- Gemini Publications
- Paul Archibald (trumpet) Simon Limbrick (percussion)
Written for Paul Archibald and Simon Limbrick in 1999, the opening of Cool It is based around the tritone which initiates the song, Maria, from Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story. A slow, langorous introduction, a dialogue between trumpet and vibraphone, sets the scene. A quick change into a fast-paced 6/8 rhythm with a drum kit underlay allows the trumpet to explore thematic allusions to the song of Riff and the Jets (Cool) from the same musical. Some of the material is linked to the last movement of my trumpet concerto, Seraphim, commissioned by the London Mozart Players and premiered by Paul Archibald, also in 1999.