 |
Robert McCauley |
... - Pa '~sa``ca^li',,a ....
| Instrumentation | 4 Horns, 4 Trumpets (3,4 doubling on piccolo trumpet), 3 Trombones, Euphonium, Tuba, Off-stage Synthesizer. |
| Length | 12 minutes |
| Difficulty | College,Professional level. Transparent scoring 80% of the score, Exposed solo parts for all players. Great trumpet players are needed - musical more than technical demands. |
| Comments | Like one of Alfred Schnittke's *Concerto Grosso* pieces, ... - Pa '~sa``ca^li',,a .... contrasts tonal polyphonic materials with radically different "musics". Sections of pointalistic textures, lush triadic harmonies, flurries of chromatically shifting lines, a tonal section modeled on scottisch heterophony - Each sections alternates, merges with or competes against a group of passacaglia variations based on a theme of chromatically shifting fourths. Not a deconstruction, but a traditional form constructed in a volatile way. All materials are derived from the first three variations. Colleagues who have heard midi renderings of the piece describe it as "exciting" and "spooky" Entertaining for many different audiences. Potentially a great opening for an orchestral concert or a closing piece for a brass ensemble concert. |
| Sources | Bob McCauley - 1317 Hawthorne #3 - Houston, TX 77006. 713 - 524 - 4758. e-mail: maestro58@pdq.net |
| Extras | Available at a future date...Score rendered in Encore 4.0, Midi files for the public available soon (I hope)... |
| History | First performance February 15th 1997 - Shepperd School Brass Ensemble, Stude Concert Hall, Rice University. Dave Kirk is conducting the premiere - he can be reached at bigbird@rice.edu. I am particularly interested in reaching other low brass players who conduct ensembles, professional brass ensembles, and conductors from outside the US - Europe, Australia, and Asia especially. |
| Contributor | Contributor: the composer |
| Other | [(pronounced *passacagila*), title rendered in ASCII format] |
SuperImposed, for Orchestra Winds
| Instrumentation | 2222,4 horns - 7 of the 8 winds double: 2 piccs, 2 E flat clar,2 B flat Bass Clar, 2 English Horns, 1 Contra-Bassoon. If doublings are assigned to other players the minimum 12 players becomes the maximum 21. |
| Length | 16 minutes |
| Difficulty | In four movements, each movement gets progressively more difficult - the last 2 movements are college, professional level. Transparent scoring 75% of the score, Exposed solo parts for all players. Demands are musical more than technical. |
| Comments | Minimalist music for Strauss Wind Sonorities. I take 'cliche' minimalist techniques and make music with better structures and more interesting tunes. 1) a cycle of points and curves: Bright popish sixties sounding melody is quickly deconstructed transformed and rebuilt in 3 minutes. b) opposing definitions (intermezzo): ABA structure, the A is a spare Webernesque texture of dyads, freely atonal, the B is a wash of 'Glassian' arpeggios - all players (tempo shift in the middle). 3) that pivotal section: a "response" piece to movement 3 of *the four sections* by Steve Reich - which I found boring. Hopefully, by starting each of the 5 canons 'in motion' [2 to 3 voices starting instead of 1], only having the last canon of the series complete, having the tambre shift from low pitches to high pitches and having the key shift with each new canon will make it a much more exciting work. 4) shards of colour: Three sets of interlocking chords phase in and out focus through dynamics and rhythmic shifting, metamorphosing into a lyrical song that climaxes for all the principal players - ala Torke. |
| Sources | Bob McCauley - 1317 Hawthorne #3 - Houston, TX 77006. 713 - 524 - 4758. e-mail: maestro58@pdq.net |
| Extras | Composition finished 2/12/1993 - possible revision soon. |
| History | - |
| Contributor | the composer |
| Other | |
My American Childhood
| Instrumentation | 3333,4331, timp.,3 percussion, celeste, strings, Compact Disc, Narrator |
| Length | 18 minutes, 30 seconds |
| Difficulty | Great College Orchestra or Professional Orchestra |
| Comments | My American Childhood is a suite of 3 tone poems that deal with the child abuse I suffered at my father's hand. The first and third movements use a compact disc for extra musical sounds (toys in the first movement, a baby crying in the third movement).
"1) In The Playroom" is a blow by blow account of my playing as a child and getting attacked by my father for reasons I couldn't understand. The Narrator in the second movement,
"2) Songs My TV Taught Me", details the injuries I went into the hospital for, my growing hatred for my father, and how I view my childhood (and my father) as an adult.
"3) Cries From The Past" takes the sound of a baby crying as a source for melodic material that gets developed into a searing adagio. The first movement is largely tonal, the second movement is mostly atonal, and the third movement is made of clusters and octaves, with some traditional melodic bits thrown in at the middle. |
| Sources | Bob McCauley
1317 Hawthorne #3
Houston, TX 77006
713-524-4758.
e-mail: maestro58@pdq.net |
| Extras | A MIDI performance is available at http://www.ruedunuage.com/~mccauley/ |
| History | - |
| Contributor | the composer |
| Other | |
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