When I take on a commission to write something new, the creative spark usually comes easy enough. Sitting down and putting those tiny dots on paper doesn’t come difficult either. It is the interval between those two phases that most often takes up considerable time!

The ignition to write a concert piece for the trombone happened in Copenhagen at the Tivoli Gardens concert hall in 1997. Attending rehearsals of my Hans Christian Andersen Suite for Wind Orchestra, I happened to be around for the...