The River's Nightsong
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Ryan Snell was another TTU student I had worked closely with in his time with the tuba ensemble. He was planning a masters lecture recital, and wanted to feature my music exclusively for it, so I offered to write something new. I wanted to contrast the more intense and active works on the program with something lyrical. The result is a dark, flowing melody with a somber tone, contrasted by a lighter middle section, followed by a return to the original melody. As the title suggests, I imagine a nameless gentle river flowing under the stars, its song carried by the current, sometimes deep and slow, sometimes more rocky and passionate, perhaps even broken by a waterfall.
Written for Ryan Snell.
Publisher: Cimarron Music Press
REVIEW: ITEA Journal Volume 43 Number 1 (Fall 2015)
It is an attractive piece written very idiomatically for the university level tuba soloist. Approximately seven minutes in length, it is ternary in construction. The opening section is a lyrical melody that is somewhat dark and somber in tone, followed by a contrasting middle section that is lighter and more rhythmically active and then a return to the original material. The title is somewhat programmatic for, as the composer states, the inspiration was his vision of a nameless river that at times is gently flowing, at others more turbulent, but always moving. The tonal language is very accessible with one brief key change. The range goes above the staff fairly often and the rhythmic activity and angularity of the melody are primarily in the B section. This section, marked quarter note equals 84, contains sixteenth note runs and arpeggios and one thirty-second note run, providing most of the technical challenges. In the slower, lyrical sections, the primary issue is the upper tessitura, though it does not contain passages that would tax the player. This is a nice piece of writing, a good selection for a university player and another solid contribution from a composer who knows how to write for low brass.
- Roy Couch, Bluffton University
It is an attractive piece written very idiomatically for the university level tuba soloist. Approximately seven minutes in length, it is ternary in construction. The opening section is a lyrical melody that is somewhat dark and somber in tone, followed by a contrasting middle section that is lighter and more rhythmically active and then a return to the original material. The title is somewhat programmatic for, as the composer states, the inspiration was his vision of a nameless river that at times is gently flowing, at others more turbulent, but always moving. The tonal language is very accessible with one brief key change. The range goes above the staff fairly often and the rhythmic activity and angularity of the melody are primarily in the B section. This section, marked quarter note equals 84, contains sixteenth note runs and arpeggios and one thirty-second note run, providing most of the technical challenges. In the slower, lyrical sections, the primary issue is the upper tessitura, though it does not contain passages that would tax the player. This is a nice piece of writing, a good selection for a university player and another solid contribution from a composer who knows how to write for low brass.
- Roy Couch, Bluffton University