David Kulma

      1. Off the Cuff Listen

      2. Lost for Words Listen

      3. On the Way Listen

      4. No Answer Listen

Impulses began as a planned three-movement quintet in the Spring of 2006. I had finished my first real piece, Alliterative Auditions, and was looking for a medium that would guarantee a performance. I got permission from the graduate wind quintet at the time, and began composing. I finished Off the Cuff in time for the end of the semester, and had it premiered then. One passage made this movement implausable for future performances and every attempt to compose other movements failed miserably. I returned to Impulses in the Fall of 2008, when I myself was in the graduate wind quintet. I changed the offending passage and added four movements to put it in its final form.

Off the Cuff begins with a striking high woodwind descending gesture that zooms in on top of the horn and bassoon. There are two main themes for the movement as well as a returning four-note motive first expressed in the bassoon. The developing section in the middle leads to a disturbed passage involving changing meters. The introduction of a pyramid effect during the return foreshadows the ending quintal sonorities.

Lost for Words is a transcription of my song, Paraphrase on Catullus 85, written a little earlier. The separate instruments make the voice leading more obvious, and the color possibilities of the quintet give the song new meaning.

On the Way is a transitional middle movement that juxtaposes compound single and simple single meters. The melodic duo that is the main idea returns in each following section in new guises. The movement is an exploration of the varying combinations the quintet offers as well as a the possibilities afforded by the opening gestures.

No Answer is also a song transcription, this time A Prayer, written a little under a year earlier. While this transcription required eliminating a good number of harmonic pitches, the melodic element afforded by wind instruments colors this song anew.

Fly Away is a response to John Adams's Harmonielehre. I was analyzing this piece, and wanted to try my hand at the continuous G used as a common tone between E and E flat chords. The difficulty of writing for wind quintet, in my opinion, is making the music not sound goofy. The natural tendency is toward chirpy and light-hearted music as in Malcolm Arnold's Three Shanties, Carl Nielsen's Quintet, or Darius Milhaud's La Cheminée du Roi René. This movement attempts to counteract this tendency by focusing on the noble nature of the horn. It opens with the woodwinds alone setting up a texture that will slowly bring in the horn on a long, fluid melody. This melodic material then gets passed through each of the other instruments on its way back to the opening music. The horn returns on the melody now on top of the opening music, and then it winds up to a glorious finish reminding the listener of the motive from Off the Cuff. As the first movement opens with a swoop down from above, the final movement lets the plane take off into the stratosphere.

Impulses is dedicated to my loving parents, Jim and Toni Kulma, who allowed me to explore music and never discouraged me from this path.

Premiere Performance of First Movement as “Impulse for Wind Quintet”: May 6, 2006

Student Composers Concert

8pm Ludwig Recital Hall Kent State University

Mary Elizabeth Thompson, flute

David Kulma, oboe

Gerald Ringe, clarinet

Gregory Hillis, horn

Jonathan Headen, bassoon

Premiere Performance of Revised First Movement: November 4, 2008

Wind Chamber Music 2

8pm Ludwig Recital Hall Kent State University

Meghan Naxer, flute

David Kulma, oboe

Jolanda Estes, clarinet

Kent Larmee, horn

Leah Schaaf, bassoon

Premiere Performance of Whole Quintet: December 6, 2008

Student Composers Concert

8pm Ludwig Recital Hall Kent State University

Meghan Naxer, flute

David Kulma, oboe

Jolanda Estes, clarinet

Greg Hillis, horn

Leah Schaaf, bassoon

April 16, 2009

Aeolian Art Ensemble New Music Day Concert

8pm Main Hall Kent State University – Stark Campus

Meghan Naxer, flute

David Kulma, oboe

Jolanda Estes, clarinet

Kent Larmee, horn

Leah Schaaf, bassoon