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I have created this site in order to provide performers, listeners and composers with a description of a composer's experiences with the creative process. The posts will provide discussions of the inspirations, challenges, and successes of a composer from the inception of the piece to the culmination in performance. I will provide a link to where you can see and hear the works in progress. Comments and questions are always welcomed. They will not posted unless you grant me permission.

Sunday, March 29, 2015

Playground Movement 2 - Slides

This is the is the second movement of a three movement composition for Drei Bones ( a trombone trio) called Playground by Sy Brandon. It was the idea of trombone glissandi representing playground slides that gave rise to this composition.

There are two main ideas used in this movement. the first is a rising pattern consisting of steps and leaps. This represents climbing the steps to the top of the slide. The second idea is the descending glissandi that represent going down the slide. There are many variants of these two ideas throughout the movement. The first version occurs in measures 1 and 2. Measure 3 and 4 is the first variant where the rising figure begins on the and of beat one instead of on the downbeat, the eighth note triplet is turned into a sixteenth note triplet, and the slide takes four beats instead of three. Measure 5 is filler material that reminds me of kids laughing and having fun.

The pickups to measure seven begin a section of imitation where three different kids are exploring smaller slides. This continues all the way to measure 17.  Measures 18, 19, and 20 use an extended version of the rising climbing motif as excitement builds to trying bigger and bigger slides. Measure 25 introduces a new variant of the slide motif where downward slides are piled closer together creating even more intensity. Measure 31 brings the listener to the biggest slide that climbs even higher and takes longer to descend. Measures 39 and 40 is a short coda using both the climbing and sliding motifs.

Your comments are always appreciated.

Dr. B

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