Dualities
(2017)
euphonium, tuba, and piano
Duration: 14 mins
Dualities came into being as part of a consortium project spearheaded by Steve Darling (euphonium) and Preston Light (tuba), who were both working on advanced degrees at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. I was familiar with Preston's abilities, having written for him before, and knew that Steve was a similar powerhouse and up-and-comer in the tuba-euphonium community, so I jumped at the opportunity to write something that would showcase both of their talents. Initially I had no plan or concept for the piece, and went through my usual trials and experiments before sticking with something promising. This wound up being the second movement, followed by the third and finishing with the first. I chose the title for a number of reasons. The obvious being a reference to the duet. From this I decided to title each movement in two parts. On a deeper level, duality is a subject I consider frequently in my own spiritual philosophy—opposites within unity; light/dark, yin/yang,up/down,etc.. This concept inevitably worked its way into the piece. You can hear it in the contrasts between lyrical and technical, between ranges of the instruments, dynamics, etc.
Publisher: Cimarron Music * Finalist for the Harvey G. Phillips Award for Excellence in Composition, ITEC 2019. |
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Review
ITEA Journal Vol. 45 No. 2 (Winter 2018) by Dr. Matthew Mireles
Dualities is music for euphonium, tuba, and piano in three movements and reflect the composer's own spiritual philosophies of "the dual nature of things found throughout reality" (McMillan). Because of the "two-ness" in the music, a challenge to the performers is executing the dramatic changes and contrasts from technical to lyrical, staccato to legato, fast to slow, solo and duet, and high to low range. The first movement, titled Ebb and Flow, creates the contrasts of technical and lyrical music, while still staying in constant forward motion. The music drives at a medium tempo and gives both the euphonium and tuba opportunities to showcase their abilities to perform as soloists and as part of a duet. By Moonlight, By Candlelight is the title of the second movement, and offers both technical and lyrical challenges at a slower tempo. Particularly pleasing are the legato melodies that allow the performers to play soaring expressive phrases. The third movement, titled Pathways and Diversions, returns the music to a faster driving character. In the opening, the euphonium and tuba both have challenges of jumping around staccato melodies that require good accuracy from the performers. Enjoyable to both the performers and the audience are the trading fast phrases that energize the music to a rousing end.
ITEA Journal Vol. 45 No. 2 (Winter 2018) by Dr. Matthew Mireles
Dualities is music for euphonium, tuba, and piano in three movements and reflect the composer's own spiritual philosophies of "the dual nature of things found throughout reality" (McMillan). Because of the "two-ness" in the music, a challenge to the performers is executing the dramatic changes and contrasts from technical to lyrical, staccato to legato, fast to slow, solo and duet, and high to low range. The first movement, titled Ebb and Flow, creates the contrasts of technical and lyrical music, while still staying in constant forward motion. The music drives at a medium tempo and gives both the euphonium and tuba opportunities to showcase their abilities to perform as soloists and as part of a duet. By Moonlight, By Candlelight is the title of the second movement, and offers both technical and lyrical challenges at a slower tempo. Particularly pleasing are the legato melodies that allow the performers to play soaring expressive phrases. The third movement, titled Pathways and Diversions, returns the music to a faster driving character. In the opening, the euphonium and tuba both have challenges of jumping around staccato melodies that require good accuracy from the performers. Enjoyable to both the performers and the audience are the trading fast phrases that energize the music to a rousing end.