(Use the "Back" button to return to the score)

A four-movement descriptive work based on experiences and observations of the composer, the intent of this 20-minute composition is not so much programmatic as it is evocative. Four Scenes is scored with the choice of either string quintet or string orchestra. The instrumentation of the traditional string quartet with added double bass allows for more independent creativity with the inner voices, as the traditional cello's role in the bass foundation is alleviated. This allows for the bass to be used to punctuate rhythm, meter, reinforce the cello part, and even speak with its own voice.

Bayliss 45 was inspired by a photographic road trip up the very short California Highway #45, which begins just north of Woodland. It cavorts through farmland and very small and charming towns. The road is rather isolated and has its own evolving character that can be witnessed by traveling its abbreviated length.

Joy on a Crowded Beach found its muse on a festive street walk at a "2nd Saturday" arts event in Sacramento. My first "2nd Saturday" was in downtown Sacramento, CA. On that night there was a massive crowd following a charismatic leader and extemporaneously sharing percussion instruments that someone provided. The impromptu band (now including me) roamed a small area of blocked-off streets as a flock of birds at twilight. The atmosphere was infectious and intoxicating. The title is misleading, as perhaps it should be "…on a Crowded Street," but for some reason the source of inspiration and the music makes me think of a joyous day at a beach.

String Flurry is both suggestive and reminiscent of a snow flurry. Ironically, it also reminds me of my quick fire on dry grass days during the hot summers when I served as a firefighter for the California Division of Forestry. The work came in a burst of inspiration and the title followed.

Steam evokes the syncopated and asynchronous rhythms, motion, and driving force experienced in the older days when the railroad was steam powered. It begins with a depiction of a massive steam locomotive, with its impressive driver wheels measuring 6 feet in diameter (or more) trying to catch traction on the steel rails, aided by sand, slipping, and spinning in its struggle until it finally breaks inertia and pulls its freight train down the tracks. The entire experience is that of rapidly and capriciously changing syncopation and mixed meters and accentuated jerks, during which one experiences the knock-about motion of riding in or atop a caboose or boxcar until the train gradually comes to a stop and the locomotive returns to its rest, releasing it unspent steam. The sounds were just as varied and often quite intoxicating.

Steam is more about the dynamics of power and speed and unfettered syncopation, whereas my other works are more about musical themes and their developing variations.

Performance time: approximately 20'00""

Vanessa McClintock