06: An Initial Concept

Comet McNaught 16 Jan 2007 Sydney

When Robert Johnson and I began discussing the concerto again in late 2005 we talked about a piece that would present the horn as an instrument of many colours and that would juxtapose it against (within) many different orchestral textures.

Comet McNaught 18 Jan 2007 Sydney

Sitting in a Rozelle cafe on 11 May 2006 I mapped out a journey for the horn that took it through the various regions of the orchestra, then a week later on 19 May I changed the internal order to make a smoother arc. Here is a pdf of those scribbles: structure-may06

A few months later when pitching the concerto to Richard Gill I described it like this:

Dear Richard,
(…) It is a bit strange describing a piece before it is written but this is the concept I have:
A single movement in one large dynamic arc: niente - ff - niente.
Seamless transitions from section to section (not as episodic as the following implies).
1 Pitched Percs (struck)/Harp/Keys
Free, ethereal
Long slow Horn notes emerging
2 Woodwind
Scherzo - Nonet for Horn and double WW
3 Brass
Heterophony delayed unisons with Horn leading.
ff maestoso angry raw
4 Tutti
ff dense
Dense complex but smooth without edges
Thinning to:
5 Strings
Cantabile.
Introduce string harmonics which lead to:
6 Pitched Percs (bowed)/Harp/Keys
Free ethereal
(…) this arc form parallels the life cycle - Birth (where do we come from?), Youth (scherzo), Middle-age (recognition of mortality), Old age (resignation - fighting or content?), Death (what’s it all about?). Well that’s the emotional thrust of the piece anyway. Also I have the image of a comet emerging from mysterious deep space, circling the searing sun and returning into the unknown, which I suppose is just a “big picture” version of the same story. Perhaps IN THE LIGHT would be a good title.
A fairly standard orchestra with slightly enlarged Percs/Keys/Hrps. Something like:
2.2.2.2.
4.2(0?).3.1
Tmp.4-5Perc
Cel
Pno/Synth(?)
2Hrp
Strings
(…)

***

I was also thinking about time and how to release the performer from the tyranny of the barline. More on that in the next post.