| The inspiration for this piece came from the turn of
the century (19th to 20th) concept of klangfarbenmelodie often found
in the music of Shoenberg and Webern. Klangfarben is German for sound
color. In the context of music, texture and timbre represent color.
In Seven Autumn Sketches, I explore sound color in two basic ways: first
by taking a melody and passing it from one instrument to another in a musical
relay of sorts; second by reorchestrating a passage of music such that
no instrument plays the same part in consecutive presentations.
The first sketch employs both methods, first the relay
method, then the reorchestration. The second sketch is essentially
the same, but counterpoint is introduced as an additional textural element.
The third sketch presents a melody accompanied first by arpeggiated chords,
then by a walking bass line played by the bassoon. The fourth sketch
employs the relay method, increasing the speed and rotating the instruments
with each successive presentation of the melody. The fifth sketch
presents a melody followed by its inversion with an accompaniment orchestrated
two ways. The sixth and longest sketch presents the same melody and
accompaniment in three orchestrations in three different keys. The
final sketch is a collage of the melodies from the first six. |
