Crawford Symphony IV "Travel"

Crawford’s Fourth Symphony was a turning point in his musical works. This was his first emotional symphony he wrote, however, he was unconscious of his true purpose for this symphony until years later. This symphony is dedicated to the time he ran away at 12 years old. He was beaten up one time for running to class everyday, trying to make it on time and still being late. A group of kids didn’t appreciate him running to classes even though he never bumped into anyone. After they beat him up, he told his principal about it and they suspended the bullies which made them furious. In retaliation, they beat him up a second time for “snitching” on them. After returning home with marks, his mom reported to the school despite Crawford telling her not to. This caused him to be beaten up one final time, and it was merciless.

He was being constantly beaten up, the whole school creating rumors about him, he lost trust and faith in his mom and all of this was going on while domestic violence in his house grew worse and worse. In the end, he felt like he didn’t belong anywhere so he decided to run away. He walked all over town for 3 days until he decided that what he was doing was wrong. He ran back to the school, remembering the area and eventually came home to an angry family.

This symphony has amazing Violin, Low Brass, Piccolo, Trumpet, Horn, Timpani, Clarinet, Flute, Bassoon, Low Strings, and Oboe excerpts in this symphony.

Fun Facts: This work was originally a 6 minute overture still titled “Travel” until 2024. From 2024 through 2026, Crawford has rewritten this symphony over 50 times whilst writing his other works that came out during those years.