Composing Downunder: Australian Composers Composing for Band: Ralph Hultgren

Composing Downunder: Australian Composers Composing for Band
Episode 1: Ralph Hultgren
Program Notes
Bushdance (BMC007) was written to feature the songs of the Australian bushdance and to portray the excitement of the trip to and participation in the evening's entertainment. Melodie's include 'The Darvy Knick Knack,' 'The Waves of tory,' Big Fairy Mountain and Little Fairy Mountain' and finally, 'Soldier's Joy.'
Grade 5
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Roulettes from Big Country (ABC), music composed by Ralph Hultgren
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Whirr, Whirr, Whirr (published by Kjos Music Company) (WB250)
A flurry of swirling harmonies and rhythms, fast-paced energy, and intense emotions typifying the demands of everyday life. Challenging and captivating!
Grade 5
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My Sister’s Tears (published by Studio Music UK) is a beautiful work recalling tragic circumstances with the passing of the composer’s younger sister. With inspiration found in Christian faith, this work brings to the world memories of her life.
Grade 4
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Trolls (BMC026) lived in castles and were huge monsters with magical powers. At nighttime, they haunted areas around where they lived and if caught would turn into stone statues or explode! Trolls is a musical depiction of these creatures from early Scandinavian folklore.
Grade 1
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Jessie’s Well (BMC059) is a simple story that comes from the pure heart of a young child, immersed in her love for her daddy and overjoyed at the peace he has found. The melody is Jessie's story, incomplete at times, like the simple wandering of a child. It is Jessie wandering, singing and not finishing the song, as a child often does. The melody drifts in and out but comes back to be completed, like it had never been the intention to leave it incomplete.
Grade 3
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Simple Song (BMC052) is slow and singing in style; plaintive and evocative in nature and it is simple.
Grade 1.5
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White Noise (published by Grand Messa) (GMM256) Can you feel that sensation as you mentally juggle the demands of emotion, profession and family, and each concern barks at you for attention and demands its need be satisfied and you can sense the priority in them all but you know and feel your lack of time and your diminishing grace and patience to deal with them all?!
Can you feel that sensation in your heart and mind when you are led to something that might be on the edge of what you feel comfortable with but you still want to go there and you know that going there will jeopardize your everyday situation but you still want to go there?!!
Can you feel the sensation that wells up in you as you desperately search for the right answer in a situation that has no turning back, no sense of ambiguity can prevail, and no hope of satisfying all the competing emotional interests seems possible?
Your mind spins, duck and dives, leaps and plunges and seems to Whirr, Whirr, Whirr!!
Grade 5+
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Concertino for Wind Orchestra (BMC119)
The first movement, Con Forza, is about power. It is not about aggression but about potency. The drums are foreboding, like parade ground drums, and not marching band drums. The brass themes resonate with power - loudness is not the demand but power is. The woodwinds spurt out flourishes, outline the brass force, and giving energy to the lines of power presented.
Mvt II Semplice
Semplice is about simplicity in melody; the melodic material is never fast; it simply floats and glides around gently. Flute in its lowest register is a delight to me. It has a quality close to the voice I think. This movement is like chamber music and the brass and percussion just add occasional depth and fullness. Mainly it is about woodwind with a dash of piano and percussion -just a hint though.
Mvt III Con Brio
Con Brio - with vigour indeed! Here the ensemble join forces to present material, dispute outcomes, decide direction and mull over previous thoughts and ideas. The melodic material is connected solidly to the music of the previous two movements. The melody that presents in oboe at bar 64 is a variation of the melody in the flute to open the second movement but dressed more vibrantly and singing with more joy and less pensive. The melody at the end that starts in the horns is from movement one - power and potency returns to dominate but not to crush. This is energy - vigour - and flashes of colour interspersed with jabs of light and dark.
Grade 4.5
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Composing Downunder: Australian Composers Composing for Band
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