Alliterative Auditions (2005-06)
10'For Two Oboes and English Horn
1. Callous Conundrums
2. Silent Suspensions
3. Manic Motions
Look at the score
I currently consider Alliterative Auditions to be my first opus. It was composed after some juvenilia that include a setting of Shel Silverstein's "Bear in There," a string quartet movement in textbook sonata form, and a three-movement oboe sonatina. Auditions was written under the auspices of Thomas Janson in 2005 and 2006. Each movement is based on its own motive containing mostly tritones and minor seconds. Manic Motions was the first to be composed; an early version was performed during a masterclass for Joan Tower. It is setup similar to a rondo with a returning overlapping seven-note texture that begins the movement. Callous Conundrums was written next, and juxtaposes compound duple and simple triple time for most of its duration. Silent Suspensions is the veritable slow movement, and begins as an upside-down passacaglia. Suspensions actually occur throughout. Palindromes are abundant, with some quite obvious and others deliberately masked. It is dedicated to my wife, girlfriend at the time, Kirsten (Hall) Kulma.
Premiere Performance: May 11, 2007
Musical Arts Society Scholarship Winner Recital
1pm Judson Manor, Cleveland
Danna Sundet, oboe
Kirsten Hall, oboe
David Kulma, English horn