Instrumentation: solo euphonium or French horn (in F), with CD accompaniment
Copyright: 1989
Duration: 9:30
Range: D to b-1
Difficulty: III
Publisher: Nicolai Music
Price: $20 (includes accompaniment CD and printed music with acc. cues)
PLUS ADDITIONAL SAVINGS: BUY ANY 2 PIECES WITH CD ACCOMPANIMENT & RECEIVE A 3RD PIECE WITH CD ACC. FREE!
a great opportunity to add to your music library!
Recorded by: Neal Corwell, euphonium, (Distant Images CD, Nicolai Music)
Other Info: Premiered by Neal Corwell at 1989 U.S. Army Band Tuba-Euphonium Conference, Fort Myer, Arlington, VA.
TO PURCHASE
Night Song was Neal Corwell’s first work combining synthesizers with a solo acoustic instrument. It has a distinctly “New Age” feel to it, but materials are presented and developed in a manner more closely associated with classical music. Unlike many pieces that utilize electronically generated sounds, the music is tonal, and the synthesizer is not used as a source of bizarre sound effects. Instead, analog and digital synthesizers are utilized as a means of expanding the timbral palette available to the composer in support of the featured instrument.
The composition begins with a lengthy and rhythmically free introductory section, during which essential thematic materials are stated. A steady rhythmic pulse then signals the start of the actual “Song”, during which the soloist presents several haunting melodic lines. As the work unfolds, thematic materials from the introduction return, and during the concluding section, the two primary melodic lines of the Song are combined in a duo between the euphonium and a string-like synthesizer voice created with an analog synthesizer. The coda, an ethereal variant of the introduction, eventually fades away into nothing.
Night Song was originally created specifically as a euphonium solo in 1989, but by virtue of some minor adaptations made by the composer in 2021, it is now equally well-suited as an expressive vehicle for the French Horn. Both euphonium and horn parts are provided.