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For Horn, Tuba and Piano: Commissioned by The International Women in Brass Conference, Lin Foulk, Deanna Swoboda, Cimarron Music Press and BVD Press

When I started working on a new work for horn, tuba, and piano, I had no thoughts as to what I would call it or what direction it would take. However, as often happens in composition, the piece took on a life of its own with three movements of contrasting moods. I thought that might be a good name, "Moods,"but I woke up one morning with the word "Colors," on my mind, and that soon morphed into "Color Code." There has been evidence that colors affect one's mood so this seemed a perfect alternative. Also, each movement has a pair of colors to represent the horn and the tuba. 

Now I had to figure out what colors would best represent each movement. The first is dissonant and militaristic with the driving accented rhythm and sudden dynamic changes. The horn and the tuba repeat each other's phrases, almost as in a competition. The quiet middle section has an ominous undercurrent, a lull in the battle. So when I thought about the colors of this movement, it occurred to me that the horn is generally a gold colored instrument and the tuba, silver. (Although it can be either silver or gold, for this purpose I decided it would be sliver.) Thus the name, A Clash of Gold and Silver.

The second movement begins full of tragedy and melancholy calling to mind the dark and forbidding colors of violet and gray. The movement shifts between one shade of despair to another, as in Shifting and Shimmering Shades of Violet and Gray. The opening choral-like section is suddenly interrupted by the repressed anger of the hand muted horn. The tuba and piano join, expressing growing angst until the first theme intercedes with an attempt to calm the anxiety, but it is thwarted again and again until finally a resignation is apparent although it's left to the last movement to brighten the spirits.

What better colors to signify having fun than Champagne and Chocolate! This movement's sprightly and humorous themes, rather tongue in cheek, bring Color Code to a fitting and happy conclusion.

Elizabeth Raum

with Piano

Both the full and abridged versions available

C Trumpet with Orchestra

Kupala Night is an ancient pagan fertility festival that takes place once a year on June 21. The music is meant to conjure the feeling of a the forest at night with young couples carrying out the ancient customs meant to induce fertility and love. Michael Fedyshyn, for whom the concerto was written, has Ukrainian background which inspired the subject of this concerto.

The first movement is the Dance of the Young Men, full of vigor, trying to attract the young women.

The second movement, Floating Wreaths, depicts the girls floating wreaths of candle-lit flowers on the river in hopes that the direction the wreaths take will foretell their future loves. The music opens with three currents from the river, each carrying a group of wreaths. The men try to capture the wreaths to impress the girls. The movement starts with three themes flowing into each other joined by the trumpet representing the young men. The triplet motif of the first movement is repeated in the second. The calm of the initial floating of the wreaths is interrupted by a group of young men showing off to the girls with their dancing.

The third movement is Searching for the Flowering Fern, which flowers only on Kupala Night has the young couples going through the forest seeking the elusive Flowering Fern, which, if they can find it, will bring them good fortune. The movement is mainly written in Lydian mode, with the raised fourth. Many ancient cultures felt the modes had an influence on the mood of the listener with the Lydian mode evoking youth and mystery. Close to the end, when the mist is again rising, themes from previous movements are heard in the muted trumpet, like spirits.

2 Oboes and English Horn:

I am an oboist, so when I was asked by the Can-Am Oboe Trio to write a new work for them, I felt right at home. For once, I could try out the parts and know if they worked without asking anybody else. My next concern was to figure out a theme that would suit the ensemble as well as offer a unifying thread. Throughout history, the number 3 has had magical connotations and this piece was to be written for a trio so I decided to further the synchronicity by writing three part inventions. That led to an interpretation of the word, “invention,” which in the case of Bach, is a musical form but for most of the rest of the world describes an object that has been newly created for a specific purpose. I decided to combine the two definitions by writing three part inventions with titles describing actual physical inventions. I wrote five movements with their names and styles depicting the following inventions.

1. Spinning Wheel without which we would not have the ability to make cloth. You can hear the turning of the wheel and the up and down of the pedal in the music.

2. Space Through a Telescope evokes the vastness of the universe giving a sense of galaxies and nebula unimaginable distances away.

3. The Telegraph was an invention that allowed people to send and receive messages over long distances. Samuel Morse developed a “language” of dots and dashes to spell words that became the standard means of communication. Morse code for the word, “oboe.” is  --- -... --- . the rhythm upon which this movement is based.

4. Video Games are possibly one of the most ubiquitous inventions of recent times with the accompanying music vying with the movie industry for popularity. This movement has a chase alternating with a superhero.

5. The Dev’lish Angel Horn features the English horn, the lowest voice in the group. The name, “English horn” was originally thought to come from a mistranslation of the French word, anglé since the early English horns were bent. However, more scholarly research has found that it actually refers to the word “Angel” because many of the paintings of the Middle Ages had angels playing a bent woodwind instrument which they called “angelic horn.” In this movement, the “Angelic horn” is a bit of an imp and insists on being naughty at times and going her own way before she is hauled back into the angelic ensemble.

EETT

Commissioned by Tuba Mirum Eastman School of Music

with piano

Varondation was commissioned by Estelle Murr for her son, Pattie Murr, for his graduation recital. The title name is a composite of the words, “variations, rondo, and graduation,” with the form being a combination of variations and rondo, and the purpose being a graduation.

Adapted for Trombone Trio by the composer. Original program notes:

Relationships is an interpretation of the interplay between people translated into music taking into account the personalities of the instruments. For instance, Two Against One uses the similarity of sound that unite the French Horn and the Tuba, both conical bore instruments, against the cylindrical bored Bass Trombone. Ménage à Trois gives each instrument a distinct personality while still playing together in harmony. Again, the Trombone is the odd man out being the "cool" one. And Cronies has the somewhat comic quality of three old friends sitting in the mall on a Saturday afternoon commenting on the events of the day as well as the occasional passerby, perhaps a pretty girl or a group of annoyingly loud boys who catches their attention.

C Trumpet with Piano (mvt. 3 comes with alternate Bb Flugel part)

The idea behind the title, Lines and Trajectories is that each movement begins with an idea, or line, but the trajectory takes it to another place. As in life, when you start out, you never know where your trajectory will take you.

1. Prelude and Fuguestarts with a complex, almost belligerent line in unison (Prelude). The parts separate gradually into their own line and while the original theme remains more or less the same, each statement has small “corrections,” bringing the lines more into harmony. Eventually, the lines compliment each other, the rhythm stabilizes and the chordal progressions become harmonious until a theme derived from the original somewhat chaotic line of the opening becomes the first statement of a fugue, perhaps the most organized of musical forms. The whole fugue is made up of themes from the prelude.
   
   
2. Mystery Garden opens with the solo trumpet over an atmospheric progression of nebulous chords giving a sense of a misty morning in an out of focus garden. As the movement progresses, the piano provides a minimalistic, raindrop-like background to support the solo line which ends unexpectedly as if caught in a gust of wind.
   
   
3. Song begins with a more consonant line that leads to a tender hearted song in a lilting 9/8 meter that expresses, sincerity, friendship, or even romance.
   
   
4. Triangles and Tangles starts out as a cheerful waltz but conflicts soon arise where each line of music has its own idea of both key and meter creating a bit of a tangle. The participants become aggressive, struggling against each other, morphing into 4/4, 6/8, or even 5/4, keys slipping into each other trying to dominate, but somehow, never escaping its destiny of being a somewhat lopsided waltz.

C Trumpet with Piano

Kupala Night is an ancient pagan fertility festival that takes place once a year on June 21. The music is meant to conjure the feeling of a the forest at night with young couples carrying out the ancient customs meant to induce fertility and love. Michael Fedyshyn, for whom the concerto was written, has Ukrainian background which inspired the subject of this concerto.

The first movement is the Dance of the Young Men, full of vigor, trying to attract the young women.

The second movement, Floating Wreaths, depicts the girls floating wreaths of candle-lit flowers on the river in hopes that the direction the wreaths take will foretell their future loves. The music opens with three currents from the river, each carrying a group of wreaths. The men try to capture the wreaths to impress the girls. The movement starts with three themes flowing into each other joined by the trumpet representing the young men. The triplet motif of the first movement is repeated in the second. The calm of the initial floating of the wreaths is interrupted by a group of young men showing off to the girls with their dancing.

The third movement is Searching for the Flowering Fern, which flowers only on Kupala Night has the young couples going through the forest seeking the elusive Flowering Fern, which, if they can find it, will bring them good fortune. The movement is mainly written in Lydian mode, with the raised fourth. Many ancient cultures felt the modes had an influence on the mood of the listener with the Lydian mode evoking youth and mystery. Close to the end, when the mist is again rising, themes from previous movements are heard in the muted trumpet, like spirits.

The first movement, Jason and the Argonauts, represents the crew of heroes on the "Argo," the ship built to carry them in their quest for the Golden Fleece.

The Symplegades, or clashing islands, impeded the entrance to the Euxine Sea. These small rocky islands floated on the surface of the water, and in their tossings and heavings occasionally came together to crush anything caught between them. Jason, on the advice of Phineus, let a dove fly through the islands first, and when they clashed, just missing her, Jason passed safely through on the rebound.

Medea was the beautiful and seductive daughter of the Colchian king who owned the powerful sorceress and gives Jason a charm to help him complete the tasks her father demanded that Jason do to win the Fleece. One of those tasks, Sowing the Dragon's Teeth, required that Jason yoke two fire-breathing bulls to a plow and sow the teeth of the dragon which Cadmus had slain and from which would grow a crop of armed men. When this belligerent army rose from the ground, Jason, using the charm Medea had given him, caused such confusion in the ranks of his assailants that they turned on each other until there were none left.

The final movement, The Golden Fleece, comes as a tribute to the success of the group of heroes in their long and difficult quest.

The first movement, Jason and the Argonauts, represents the crew of heroes on the "Argo," the ship built to carry them in their quest for the Golden Fleece.

The Symplegades, or clashing islands, impeded the entrance to the Euxine Sea. These small rocky islands floated on the surface of the water, and in their tossings and heavings occasionally came together to crush anything caught between them. Jason, on the advice of Phineus, let a dove fly through the islands first, and when they clashed, just missing her, Jason passed safely through on the rebound.

Medea was the beautiful and seductive daughter of the Colchian king who owned the powerful sorceress and gives Jason a charm to help him complete the tasks her father demanded that Jason do to win the Fleece. One of those tasks, Sowing the Dragon's Teeth, required that Jason yoke two fire-breathing bulls to a plow and sow the teeth of the dragon which Cadmus had slain and from which would grow a crop of armed men. When this belligerent army rose from the ground, Jason, using the charm Medea had given him, caused such confusion in the ranks of his assailants that they turned on each other until there were none left.

The final movement, The Golden Fleece, comes as a tribute to the success of the group of heroes in their long and difficult quest.