Desert Flower Jere Hutcheson

Band
Number of Players:Standard
Copyright:2006
Piccolo
Flute 1
Flute 2
Flute 3
Oboe 1
Oboe 2
Bb Clarinet 1
Bb Clarinet 2
Bb Clarinet 3
Bb Bass Clarinet
Bassoon 1
Bassoon 2
Alto Saxophone 1
Alto Saxophone 2
Tenor Saxophone
Baritone Saxophone
Bb Trumpet 1
Bb Trumpet 2
Bb Trumpet 3
F Horn 1
F Horn 2
F Horn 3
F Horn 4
Trombone 1
Trombone 2
Trombone 3
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Percussion 1 (xylophone, glockenspiel)
Percussion 2 (vibraphone, glockenspiel)
Percussion 3 (3 Japanese temple bells, chimes, glockenspiel)
Percussion 4 (marimba—5 octaves)
Percussion 5 (4 high gongs, 3 Japanese temple bells)
Percussion 6 (4 low gongs)
Percussion 7 (3 tam-tams)
Make no doubt about it, the Balinese Gamelan Orchestra, with its rich metallic timbres, was in the back of my mind as I conjured Desert Flower. My initial step was to compose a short score for percussion alone. As I considered the full score, it seemed completely natural to allow the wind instruments to embellish the melodic lines of the percussion instruments. The percussion section, then, provides the backbone, the figured bass as it were, for the winds. The winds add a variety of articulations and phrasings to the original lines and occasionally introduce their own motives. The resultant texture is often referred to as heterophony. The main body of the work is framed by a passage of deep wind sonority, which underlies a somewhat fragile, but anxious, melodic voice assigned to the xylophone.
—Jere Hutcheson