The first title that came to mind as I worked on this piece was �The Happy Dog March�, inspired by the opening section. Who but frolicking dogs can be so thoroughly exuberant? I later shortened the title to �Dogs,� in order to encompass the disparate doggy moods of the other sections: �Ferocious� (brass, of course), �Noble� (a chorale), and �Lonely� (the brief codetta). Every section returns to the original exuberance, which at the very end is mixed with a hint of nobility. Perhaps a dog�s inextinguishable enthusiasm and its nobility are one and the same. Email me for parts.