Devil's Radio

$ 75.00

for orchestra - Proceed to purchase if you would like to buy a study score.  

Conductor's Score and Performance Parts for RENTAL ONLY. Please send an email to info@aphramusic.com to request a rental application form.

Approximate Duration: 9'

INSTRUMENTATION

LARGE ORCHESTRA
2 piccolos
2 flutes 
4 oboes (4th doubling English Horn)
1 E-flat clarinet
2 B-flat clarinets
1 bass clarinet in b-flat
3 bassoons
1 contrabassoon
6 horns in F
4 trumpets in C
2 tenor trombones
bass trombone
tuba
timpani
percussion (3 players)
piano / celesta
harp
strings


TRIPLE WINDS
1 piccolo
2 flutes
2 oboes
English Horn
1 E-flat clarinet
2 B-flat clarinets
2 bassoons
1 contrabassoon
4 horns in F
3 trumpets in C
2 tenor trombones
bass trombone
tuba
timpani
percussion (3 players)
piano / celesta
harp
strings

PROGRAM NOTES


"Rumor is the Devil's radio," goes an evocative Southern phrase, and ever since hearing it, I've fantasized about a fanfare with equal parts darkness and groove. 

Sometimes the music is coldly propulsive, as at the opening, which uses a kind of sparkling "musical lure" in the upper woodwinds. But this is soon undercut by a bluesy bass line and energetic percussion, ultimately building into a soaring melody that's best described as vainglorious. Indeed, the work has ample brightness to counter its dark corners, and in this way it can be heard as a fanfare our villain might write for himself, complete with a grandiose flourishes and an infectious swing section. But this lightness quickly evaporates in the work's final minutes, when thunderous hits in the low brass suggest a Goliath-sized figure throwing his weight around. He bows out with a wink and nod, ever the gentleman.