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Title: Bayou Breakdown | |
| Composer: Brant Karrick | ||
| Year Composed: 2003 | ||
| Bayou Breakdown began as an attempt to write a short fugue in a similar style of J. S. Bach, however that idea did not last long. The main melody is first introduced in a four-part fugue scored for the woodwinds. A brief transition gives way to a second statement of the fugue with brass colors. Another transition, featuring the voice leadings of a harmonica, introduces a folk song-like lyrical theme based on a pentatonic scale. A brief transition takes the piece to the most dissonant music evoking a poorly played waltz. The first tune tries to reappear but gets swept away in descending chromatic chords. After a complete stop the initial fugue returns with solos by the clarinet, bassoon, piccolo, alto saxophone, oboe, and trumpet, with the last leg played by everyone. The middle theme returns combined with a variant of first theme serving as a rhythmic counter melody. After a few short statements of the main melody, the piece ends with large flurry of polyphony from the full band.
In writing Bayou Breakdown I hoped to create a piece that provided musical and technical challenges for the musicians yet would be immediately enjoyed by the listener, musician and non-musician alike. My sister Katherine recently married (and divorced) the grandson of the famous bluegrass fiddler Vassar Clements. Clements, also known as the father of "hillbilly jazz," has a myriad of wonderful recordings with some of the world's finest bluegrass musicians that I have found myself enjoying more and more. These wonderful sounds along with the live Cajun music I enjoyed listening to while living in Baton, Rouge, LA, adequately served as the musical inspiration for Bayou Breakdown. While the piece is written for my terrific former students in The University of Toledo Wind Ensemble, it is dedicated to one of my most influential mentors, Frank Wickes, Director of Bands at Louisiana State University. |
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