By My Side Andrew Boysen jr.

The basic building blocks for the piece come from the use of a musical cryptogram, a compositional approach that assigns musical pitches to notes of the alphabet, allowing the composer to spell words musically. The main melody outlines the name of the dedicatee of this work, a high school percussionist, and also an avid runner, who was tragically killed. Composer Andrew Boysen Jr. deftly combines these two themes for a stirring end, which then fades off into the distance.