One Day Wonder #129

For 2 horns, trombone and tuba.

I wrote this piece later in the afternoon. Hey, I was a day behind and I was feeling guilty! Although it’s slow like #128, it has a much different approach. Once more, we find ourselves in polytonal land. And oh, how I love it! As a composer, it’s an intellectual and aesthetic challenge. As a listener, I just love that sour sound. It’s like nothing else. It is almost impervious to schmaltz, yet it’s a bit too warm for serialists. The really funny thing is that to establish hardcore polytonality, you have to stick to select some extremely diatonic material for each part. The only thing is that each part is in a different key. I chose the circle of fourths approach for this one and framed it as a chorale. Yes, unlike #128, it’s really a chorale. The tuba is in F, the trombone is in Bb, the 2nd horn is in Eb and the 1st horn is in Ab. At some point, there is some divergence into minor, but those designations hold up; everybody's still a fourth apart, they're just in a minor key. I have few firm beliefs, but this is one of them: polytonality, when it is used in the right way can produce odd moments of extreme beauty. You can quote me on that. So does this piece come up with those those moments? Perhaps. Just give it a listen.