Reflections: Caricatures V Jere Hutcheson

Band
Number of Players:Standard
Copyright:2007
Piccolo
Flute 1
Flute 2
Flute 3
Oboe 1
Oboe 2
English Horn
Soprano Clarinet (Eb)
Clarinet 1 (Bb)
Clarinet 2 (Bb)
Clarinet 3 (Bb)
Bass Clarinet (Bb)
Bassoon 1
Bassoon 2
Contrabassoon Soprano Saxophone
Alto Saxophone 1
Alto Saxophone 2
Tenor Saxophone
Baritone Saxophone

Trumpet 1 (Bb)
Trumpet 2 (Bb)
Trumpet 3 (Bb)
Horn 1 (F)
Horn 2 (F)
Horn 3 (F)
Horn 4 (F)
Trombone 1 (Tenor)
Trombone 2 (Tenor)
Trombone 3 (Bass)
Euphonium
Tuba

Piano

Percussion 1 (Xylophone, Metal Plate, Chocallo (metal shaker)
Percussion 2 (Glockenspiel, Xylophone, Bongos, 3 Suspended Cymbals, Castanets)
Percussion 3 (Vibraphone, Bongos, Congas (2), Claves, Tam-Tam)
Percussion 4 (5-octave Marimba, Slapstick, Glockenspiel)
Percussion 5 (Bass Drum, Floor Tom, 3 Suspended Cymbals, Castanets, Slapstick, Wood Block, Congas (2), Log Drum, Triangle)
Percussion 6 (Timpani (4), Temple Blocks, Suspended Cymbal (with wire brushes)
The formal design for Reflections is very much like that of another recent composition of mine for wind symphony – Gradus ad Parnassum. In Gradus I pay homage to nine composers from the past. The music representing each composer is in the form of a caricature. The caricatures are separated by interludes.

This new set of caricatures follows a similar plan with the intention of honoring a new set of composers. My goal has been to write music that reflects something of each honored composer’s style and, at the same time, to interject my own playful treatments as they come to me during the compositional process. The ultimate challenge is to shape all these diverse elements, inspired from music composed over the past four centuries, so that the composition moves forward in the voice of just one composer – that of yours truly.

Might some of my caricatures include musical quotes? Of course. Generally, quotes go only a few bars before I begin transforming the material in ways that I hope will be heard as fresh and entertaining. In some cases, what might be perceived to be a quotation is not, for I have striven to absorb the musical vocabulary and stylistic features of each composer and then to create a fitting parody.

The interludes lead the listener from one composer to another, much as the promenade music of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition leads the viewer from painting to painting in the gallery.