This is the second piece I composed inspired by tarot. This piece began with composing what is now the intro on September 19 of 2015 and this section was originally intended to be the entire piece for guitar duo or guitar/sax duo. As I learned more about the Moon card, I realized this intro didn't capture the full meaning of the complex card. For about a month the intro section sat and I couldn't find what I wanted for the next section.

 

While I was taking a shower one day in October, I started humming a melody. This melody morphed into measures 18-19 of the piece. As I kept humming, I started tapping different rhythms until I came across what is now the bass rhythm. Quickly, I jumped out of the shower, ran to my guitar and started playing the bass rhythm. After messing with it (and recording it with the title "WTF?") I wrote down that bass part and was surprised to see it was in 11/8. I then wrote the melody I was humming. With my previous Moon intro in mind, I wrote the rest of the melody. Over the next few days I formulated how I would portray the dog/wolf or conscious/subconscious aspects. I decided to use two saxes to play the parts - one represents the dog and the other represents the wolf. Just like how dogs and wolves belong to the same family, the Alto and Tenor sax belong to the same instrument family. 

 

At first, the saxes are playing together but during the solo section the dog/conscious mind begins alone with a very "inside" or tame sounding solo. The wolf/subconscious slowly enters and increases in dominance and intensity until it overtakes the dog - showing that the inner demons and creativity are taking over. After the solos, the piece returns to the intro with the dog and wolf playing together again but still with a sense of mystery.