Cauldron
David Heuser
About this work:
To hear an audio excerpt of this work go to http://www.nonsequiturmusic.com/cauldron.htm.
Cauldron was commissioned and premiered by the New York Youth Symphony. Because it was to be premiered by a youth symphony, I wanted the piece to be lively, rhythmic and upbeat, as well as something that would be enjoyable to perform. On the other hand, I think there is a dark quality to this piece (something that is found in most of my music), a darkness which for me the title connotes.
Formally, the piece divides into three sections (A-B-A'). The outer sections are generally more active and louder than the central section (although both A sections begin softly), and focus on fragments of melody and short threefold repetitions of chords. In contrast, the middle part of the piece features longer legato lines played by solo wind instruments. Eventually, though, these lines are also fragmented and slowly piled up on each other in a gradually crescendo of activity.
A near-continuous eighth-note ostinato is the main thread running through the piece, providing a backdrop over which the rest of the music is heard. Only once does the eighth-note pulse stop, and that is during the transition from the B section to the return of A. Near the end of the piece, however, the ostinato transforms, and instead of pitched eighth-notes, it becomes sixteenth-notes played by drums.
Year composed: 1995
Duration: 00:08:00
Ensemble type: Orchestra:Standard Orchestra
Instrumentation: 3 Flute, 2 Oboe, 3 Clarinet, 2 Bassoon, 4 Horn in F, 2 Trumpet, 2 Trombone, 1 Bass Trombone, 1 Tuba, 1 Timpani, 3 Percussion (General), 1 Piano, 1 Strings (General), 1 Harp
Instrumentation notes: Percussion required: 4 tomtoms, 2 timbales, snare drum, bass drum, triangle, 3 suspended cymbals, xylophone, vibraphone, crotales [one octave]