For the Mares of ‘33, I began by composing a very fast, acrobatic melody, heard in the first two measures, which evolves through a series of modulations. The melody is too large in rang to be covered by any one player, so it is split between all of them, as in the Ars Nova technique, hocket. Each of the players carries a rhythmic subset of the melody, which is then maintained, even as the melody is drastically diminished in range. I saw this as the first modulation in the piece. Each successive modulation retained a different parameter (register, dynamic, pitch, rhythm, meter) from the previous section, as a way of gluing the piece together. The hocketing also activates another crucial element of Mares. By splitting up the original melody between the four players, it is not only divided in terms of pitch and rhythm, but also, spatially. Tiny spatial canons arise in the texture, allowing the sounds to rotate and swing like a pendulum.
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Click below to purchase with credit or a PayPal account or email benhjertmann[[at]]gmail[[dot com]] to request an invoice and/or pay with check or money order. Once payment is received the music will be shipped FREE OF CHARGE (for bound scores) or emailed (for pdf scores) within two weeks.
The Mares of ‘33 for sax quartet (ATTB)
December 19, 2010Program Note
For the Mares of ‘33, I began by composing a very fast, acrobatic melody, heard in the first two measures, which evolves through a series of modulations. The melody is too large in rang to be covered by any one player, so it is split between all of them, as in the Ars Nova technique, hocket. Each of the players carries a rhythmic subset of the melody, which is then maintained, even as the melody is drastically diminished in range. I saw this as the first modulation in the piece. Each successive modulation retained a different parameter (register, dynamic, pitch, rhythm, meter) from the previous section, as a way of gluing the piece together. The hocketing also activates another crucial element of Mares. By splitting up the original melody between the four players, it is not only divided in terms of pitch and rhythm, but also, spatially. Tiny spatial canons arise in the texture, allowing the sounds to rotate and swing like a pendulum.
Purchasing Info
Click below to purchase with credit or a PayPal account or email benhjertmann[[at]]gmail[[dot com]] to request an invoice and/or pay with check or money order. Once payment is received the music will be shipped FREE OF CHARGE (for bound scores) or emailed (for pdf scores) within two weeks.