SCORE
Steffan Brunette
Ensemble: Wind Ensemble
Grade: 4
Duration: 03:30
Year of Composition: 2011
Premiered by: Uxbridge Community Concert Band
Date of Premiere: August, 2011
Publisher: self-published
Available: Yes
How to Acquire: Composer
Links:
Flutes 1,2
Oboe
Bassoon
B♭ Clarinets 1,2,3
B♭ Bass Clarinet
E♭ Alto Saxes 1,2
B♭ Tenor Sax
E♭ Baritone Sax
B♭ Trumpets 1,2,3
F Horns 1,2
Trombones 1,2,3
Euphonium
Tuba
4 Percussion
Score and parts available from the composer at no charge.
Program Notes:
Written for the Uxbridge Community Concert Band as part of its twentieth summer season.
This piece gets its name for the collective word for a group of 20. In the same way that a “dozen” denotes a group of 12, a “score” implies a group of 20 – as in Lincoln’s famous address of “four score and seven years”, indicating 87 years that passed between 1776 and 1863, the year of the Gettysburg Address. It’s also fitting in its musical pun, given that it is also the name given to the conductor’s music.
The music is born from the attempt to depict the number “20” in various forms, within the framework of a minimalist concept. During the time of writing this piece, I was listening quite intensely to John Adams’ Harmonielehre. “20” is presented harmonically through the creation of a set of pitches based on four fifths (4x5). There are eight possibilities of patterns when using mixtures of perfect and diminished fifths, ranging from the creation of a standard pentatonic scale, through patterns consisting of semitones and tritones.
A further rule helps to constrain the music: each five-note pattern can only be changed one pitch at a time. The first set of notes (C-D-E♭-G-A) has the A changed to an A♭. The next subsequent change moves the D to a D♭, and so on. The final resolution is on the B♭ pentatonic scale, with all five pitches sounding in the final chord. From the beginning to end, there are 20 pitch changes to cover this harmonic ground.
(Steffan Brunette)
