Desert Flower

The composer states that the rich metallic timbres of the Balanese Gamelan Orchestra was in the back of his mind when creating Desert Flower. The percussion section provides the backbone of the work while the winds embellish the melodic lines provided by the percussion instruments. A serious work of color, craft and subtle texture.

Genre: Band | # of Players: Standard
Level: 5 | Duration: 11:15

Instrumentation
Piccolo
Flute 1
Flute 2
Flute 3
Oboe 1
Oboe 2
Bb Clarinet 1
Bb Clarinet 2
Bb Clarinet 3
Bb Bass Clarinet
Bassoon 1
Bassoon 2
Alto Saxophone 1
Alto Saxophone 2
Tenor Saxophone
Baritone Saxophone

Bb Trumpet 1
Bb Trumpet 2
Bb Trumpet 3
F Horn 1
F Horn 2
F Horn 3
F Horn 4
Trombone 1
Trombone 2
Trombone 3
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass

Percussion 1 (xylophone, glockenspiel)
Percussion 2 (vibraphone, glockenspiel)
Percussion 3 (3 Japanese temple bells, chimes, glockenspiel)
Percussion 4 (marimba—5 octaves)
Percussion 5 (4 high gongs, 3 Japanese temple bells)
Percussion 6 (4 low gongs)
Percussion 7 (3 tam-tams)

Program Notes
Make no doubt about it, the Balinese Gamelan Orchestra, with its rich metallic timbres, was in the back of my mind as I conjured Desert Flower. My initial step was to compose a short score for percussion alone. As I considered the full score, it seemed completely natural to allow the wind instruments to embellish the melodic lines of the percussion instruments. The percussion section, then, provides the backbone, the figured bass as it were, for the winds. The winds add a variety of articulations and phrasings to the original lines and occasionally introduce their own motives. The resultant texture is often referred to as heterophony. The main body of the work is framed by a passage of deep wind sonority, which underlies a somewhat fragile, but anxious, melodic voice assigned to the xylophone.

- Jere Hutcheson