Harmelodic Configurations: Mvt. 2 - Idyll (The Eastern Sierras) (Gr.3-4) by Stephen HIll

SARAHTIM Music Publishing (Stephen Hill)
Website: www.stephenhillcomposer.com for Scores and Parts
Email: [e-mail]
Instrumentation
Piccolo
Flute 1-2
Oboe
Bb Clarinet 1-3
Bb Bass Clarinet
Bb Contra Bass Clarinet
Bassoon
Eb Alto Saxophone 1-2
Bb Tenor Saxophone
Eb Baritone Saxophone
Bb Trumpet 1-3 (Flugelhorn)
French Horn 1-4
Trombone 1-3
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Timpani
Percussion
(Triangle, Wind Chimes, Cymbals, Gong)
Mallets
(Vibraphone, Glockenspiel)
Piano
Duration - ca. 5:30
About the Work...
In the spring of 2006, influential music educator Gary Scudder asked if I would consider writing a piece for his band that somehow included the tones CBDAAG derived from the acronym CBDA (California Band Directors Association). The additional A and G were added as it was the ‘Anniversary Golden’, the 50th anniversary, of the organization’s conference. The work began in late June 2006, with sketches of harmonic and melodic configurations of the tones. The entire work being performed today originated in this initial request.
The sketching continued while my wife and I were on our annual camping and fishing trip. Sketches were worked out in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, in a motel room in Missoula, Montana while fly fishing the Lochsa River in Idaho and at a campground at the base of Mt. Hood in Oregon. The actual writing took place in July and was finished in late August. Each movement reflects the musical influence of my teachers and the composers I was studying at the time.
Harmelodic Configurations is an illusion to composer Howard Hanson (1896-1981) and his book, Harmonic Materials of Modern Music. In the preface, Hanson writes, “If consistency of harmonic- melodic expression is important in musical creation, this theory should bear the most intensive study, for it sets up a basis for the logical expansion of tonal ideas once the germinating concept has been decided upon in the mind of the composer.” For the title, I combined the two words harmonic and melodic into one made-up word, Harmelodic. By adding the word, configuration (noun - an arrangement of parts or elements; “the outcome depends on the configuration of influences at the time”), I completed the concept in the “mind of the composer” as Hanson proposed.
About the Work...
II. Idyll: The Eastern Sierras (Reflectively, with Ebb and Flow)This is a musical reflection of my "Spring Break" trips to the Eastern Sierras to do a little Fly Fishing. They are certainly a majestic mountain range in the middle of California. The opening "Quintal" Chord and pulsing timpani part were borrowed from Howard Hanson's "Lament for Beowulf”.
About the Composer…
Stephen Hill (b.1958) was born and raised in Southern California. His compositional lineage includes the likes of Roy Harris, Ingolf Dahl, Clifton Williams, Bernard Rogers, and Howard Hanson through study with Philip Westin (Cerritos College, 1976-1978) and most notably with W. Francis McBeth at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas (1978-1980). Stephen continued with graduate work at California State University, Los Angeles (1980-83) with composers Dr. Byong Kon Kim and William Hill. He composes for the simple joy of it.
For over 40 years, Stephen taught K-12 instrumental music in the Private Christian School (Whittier Christian) and Public School (California High School) settings. Though semi-retired, Stephen still works with students by continuing to teach part-time at California High School and maintaining his private music studio, where he plays and teaches Woodwinds, Brass, Strings, and Piano. Stephen also plays with the church orchestra at Calvary Chapel in La Habra, CA., where Stephen attends. When teaching full-time, he was primarily a "summer" composer. No longer teaching full-time, Stephen has the privilege to compose beyond just the summer months and publishes through his company, SARAHTIM-a title which comes from simply combining the name of his daughter Sarah and son Timothy.
(About the Composer…Notes by Dr. John Burdett, Azusa Pacific University).