Chamber Music Bassoon,
Flute, Violoncello
SKU: PR.114408750
Composed by Samuel Adler.
Set of Score and Parts.
With Standard notation.
Composed 1995.
40+14+15+15 pages.
Duration 20 minutes.
Theodore Presser Company
#114-40875. Published by
Theodore Presser Company
(PR.114408750).
UPC:
680160013289. 8.5 x 11
inches.
This work
was commissioned by the
Friends of the Phoenix
Public Library for the
dedication of the new
Music Room and made
possible in part through
the funds from the
Arizona Commission on the
Arts, and Meet the
Composer-Arizona. Diary
of a Journey was composed
between July and
September 1995 for the
group Arpeggio. During
the early summer of 1995,
my wife and I took a
vacation to Prague and
Budapest. It was the
first trip for both of us
to these former Iron
Curtain capitals. The
train ride through the
beautiful country-side,
the dilapidated small
villages and towns, the
magnificent architecture
and the feeling of
grandeur in the two major
cities left an indelible
impression on me. I
longed to write some kind
of an essay about it.
Diary of a Journey is the
result of some of these
thoughts, which were
sketched (musically) as
we visited each place.
There are four
'snapshots' or movements
which do not portray a
specific scene, but
rather try to capture the
impressions I gathered
from the people we
observed and met, and the
many awe-inspiring
experiences we had.
Throughout the journey, I
felt that people were
clinging to a tenacious
hope for a better future,
no matter how long it
will take to realize it.
In the first movement
each player portrays a
struggle against all
odds, and with great
energy and even wit tries
to overcome the
obstacles, ending on one
serene high note as a
resting point after all
the conflict. The second
'snapshot' tries to
capture the deep faith of
a newly regained
religiosity. It is
chant-like, and uses as
its basic melodic
material a famous Czech
hymn, penned by the great
religious reformer John
Huss. This movement is
played very freely,
without bar-lines and
with the hymn shining
through the fervent
chanting. The third
movement is a kind of
'demonic' scherzo. Fast
and furious, the three
instruments vie with one
another in a true
perpetual motion frenzy,
which is at times
relieved by short, more
pastoral melodic
fragments. A rather wild
ending should leave
everyone breathless.
Finally, in the fourth
'snapshot' the
instruments play a bit
more as a team, meaning
that is that there is
more melody with
accompaniment, and more
imitative music giving
the impression of a group
effort. The energy is
still at a high level but
long lyrical lines
abound, accompanied and
interrupted at times by
undulating fast notes
still depicting the
struggle against the
blight which any visitor
notices all around these
countries, yet also
showing the determination
of the people to conquer
adversity. --Samuel
Adler.
