In writing Transitus, I was conscious of the 500th anniversary of the voyage of Columbus to the new world, and imagined what it must have been like for him, halfway through the expedition, having to choose either to turn the boat back toward Spain, or to continue into uncharted waters and risk loosing his life and those of his crew (these doubts are documented in the journal he kept of the voyage). Although the title, in general, means to cross over, it represents for me those moments in our lives, sometimes dark but always solitary, when we make decisions which determine our path through life. The challenge to cross over is risky; the alternative--uninviting.

This work was commissioned by the University of Texas, Arlington, College of Liberal Arts. It is dedicated to Ray Lichtenwalter and the University of Texas, Arlington Wind Ensemble, who gave its premiere in Carnegie Hall, New York City on July 5, 1992.