Three Bones Concerto

Always enjoying a play on words, I took the opportunity from the “Three Bones” concept of this concerto to see what it might inspire from me musically. Consequently, I ended up with Cuban, Lazy, and Hip.

CUBAN: I initially wanted to call the first movement “Humerus”, but I also wanted to be sure to give credit to the driving force behind the creation of this piece, Jon Whitaker. Jon – from what I can tell – has a certain penchant for cigars. Doing a quick search, I discovered that there is indeed a Cuban bone-fish, often referred to as a Cuban Bone. Given that Cuban now meant something having to do with ‘bones AND cigars, I was on my way. Therefore, the first movement is a short, rhythmically driven display for the three solo trombones, acting mostly as a trio.

LAZY: Exactly as one might expect from the title, this movement is slow, bluesy – I imagine sitting on the porch on an extremely hot summer day, with a sweating glass of lemonade nearby. Contrary to the first movement, ‘LAZY’ allows each soloist a chance at some individual expression.

HIP: The most extended of the three movements (and could therefore almost stand alone), ‘HIP’ extrapolates from an opening chorale many variants developed throughout the movement. As the title suggests, some use of more contemporary drum-beats and instrumental sounds are used. That being said, the overall style still firmly remains inside the ‘classical world’.

Instrumentation:

(1 per part)

• Piccolo, 2 Flutes
• 2 Oboes, English Horn
• 2 Bassoons
• 2 Bb Clarinets, Bass Clarinet
• 2 Alto Saxophones, Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone
• 3 French Horns, 3 Bb Trumpets 2 Trombones, Bass Trombone Euphonium, Tuba
• Harp, Timpani Percussion (5 players preferred)
• Contrabass