Michael S. Horwood

1) Forillon NP (Quebec)
2) Bryce Canyon NP (Utah)
3) Fathom Five Marine Park (ontario)
4) Yellowstone NP (Wyoming)
5) Jasper NP (Alberta)

Full description and program notes come with the score or may be downloaded free from my website.

In a way it is, thus, a "student" work, but its merits will have to be judged by others. Besides, the repertoire for bass concerti is not only thin in quantity , but in musical substance also.

The first movement, Largo, is a broad, lyrical movement with a central climax. I features melancholic lines for the soloist frequently over long pedal tones in the lower strings. The key is d minor. A pedal "A" links the first movement to the faster second, marked Allegro Molto. Its key is F major and is a rondo. The "a" sections are flashy, the "b" sections slightly more lyrical. The "c" section is one of my first references to jazz in my music. There is a cadenza just before the coda.

Additionally, I arranged the string orchestra part for solo piano to function as a reduction and/or a "sonata" so that it could be played on student recitals. The latest revision in 1988 resulted from suggestions from other bassists in subsequent performances. I am likely to engrave this work on computer sometime later this year, so inevitably a few other modest touch-ups or slight revisions will occur.

This description may also be used as program notes and may be downloaded free from here or my website.

This chamber orchestra piece represents a condensation of the seven days of the week beginning with Monday. The five business days (Monday through Friday) are similar in texture, tempo and melodic ideas. The week is greeted with a short fanfare, but the first five days are troubled by conflict and tension (the score is marked: Terribly Slow and Hyper Fast). Each successive day seems to become longer. Finally, after great stresses and upheavals Friday arrives, gives way to the weekend, and is celebrated with a night on the town to hear some jazz. Saturday, the day of luxury - at long last - is a lazy and luxurious chromatic texture symbolic of one's need to sleep-in and later to unwind and enjoy. The day culminates with dinner and dancing. Sunday, the traditional "church day", is portrayed by a simple setting of the Gregorian "Kyrie" from Mass XI. A short recap of the opening fanfare reminds one that the whole ordeal is to start yet again.

This description functions also as program notes and comes with the conductor's score or may be downloaded free from here or my website.

The first movement, Allegro Frammenti, has many tempo and metric changes and is built upon the idea of separate, often unrelated, motives ("frammenti" = "fragments"), which rapidly alternate and rarely develop. Consequently, the movement exists almost solely on the juxtaposition of these frequently opposing fragments. This procedure has been a structural basis for several of my works around this time.

The lamenting second movement, Passacaglia Funebre, is a very lyrical and tonal c# minor slow movement. Its form is an A-B-A with the "A" sections constructed from the bass line stated in bars 2 - 5. The contrasting middle section builds to the movement's climax.

The third movement, Vivace in Moto Perpetuo, is a fast and energetic finale based on the "perpetual motion" concept. Except for the final two bars, the eighth-note motion is always present somewhere in the orchestral texture. While agressive, this mvt. is not too difficult. Its energy and relentless rhythmic energy, mostly in 9/8, makes a powerful conclusion. The form is an ABACA rondo with the "C" section recalling a thematic idea from the first movement.

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