 Opus Tour  |
The musical compositions of Richard Burdick |
Opus 86: |
Wailing for horn, piano & tape, opus 86 |
As heard on Richard Burdick's first CD |
| Premiered at the Davis Arts Center (Davis, California) May 1995 |
Wailing was written for two reasons, I wanted to
write something loud featuring the horn, and I need to explore some sadness that
I felt going through a divorce. This work was written with the natural (hand)
horn in mind although it has not received a premiere on the original
instrument, I have performed it on modern horn with computer, no
piano. |
Movement 1 is a study into the contrast between the
scale C, Db, D#, E, F, Gb, Ab and scale B,C,D,E,F,G,Ab. The second scale I is
used in four modulations with roots on B, G#, F, and D. The polyrhythms 3:4 and
8:9 are featured prominently. I am sure this work houses thoughts on contrasting
open and closed sounds on the horn. |
Movement two explores a more minimal concept. Using
the chart on the next page of the possible orders of five tones, I went through
and constructed the piece by presenting the first tone of each row, then the
first two , three four and the five, then I believe I want back decreasingly.
This is obvious with the increasingly fast rhythms & the type of
polyrhythm. |
In the third movement. I am moving away from my
sadness and have written a minuet, trio form using the contrast of the open and
closed tones on the horn to construct the melody, within certain scale
limitations. |
The fourth movement is a parody on the horn "carillon" theme from L'Arlesienne of George Bizet in two different keys. Once again there are sections of the open tones and sections of the closed tones all put into a fabric of accelerating and decelerating modes. |
For the official CD and sheet music release. I have re-mastered the tape part nd recorded a valve horn performance of the work and a version on natural horn. This is originally written for natural horn in low C. It is quite difficult, but with diligence this can be performed. The style of writing for the natural horn plays better when approached like a modern player trying to play the NH and not in any way a classical style piece. The stopped tones should sound stopped! |
This work is registered with ASCAP |