Odyssey (10') is a tone poem commissioned for the euphonium quartet Big Four by Steven Martin in 2025. It utilizes the sonata form to depict a capricious journey at sea. The piece is built of repeating motives and rhythmic ideas that allow dialogue between the four players, developing in a traditional romantic-era style. The work also frequently combines usage of functional and Neo-Riemannian harmony, the latter acting as a way to transform key centers by focusing only on shared pitches between distant harmonies.

The opening A section features a rising gallant melody in A minor with a fanfare-like quality as our “crew” of players sets out onto the sea. After exciting flourishes through meter changes and sweeping gestures, the energy winds down into the B section, where the calm waves rock the ship gently. 

Though in the distance, the storm churns and roils, and the players are launched into the development section where the two themes are transformed. They act as a lattice to carry them through drastic harmonic and register changes, exploring the full range of the euphonium. As the storm abates, each of the four players perform a short cadenza with brief interludes using these same melodic fragments. The piece ends with a triumphant return to shore as the opening material returns in C major.