The Hunter's Funeral
For Twelve Players 2017
CopyrightbyG.Ricordi&Co./Forperusalonly
Commissioned by the Royal Philharmonic Society and the Philharmonia Orchestra
World Premiere
21st June 2017, Royal Festival Hall, London, UK
The Members of the Philharmonia Orchestra
Patrick Bailey, Conductor
Donghoon Shin
The Hunter’s Funeral
For Twelve Players (2017)
Flute (doubling Piccolo)
Bb Clarinet
Horn in F (with Bass Trombone Harmon Mute)
Trumpet in C
Percussion 1 Player
Glockenspiel, Snare, Suspended Cymbal, Hi-hat, 2 Bongos, 2 Congas, Marimba, Vibraphone, Bass Drum, Crotales (Low C#) on Timpani
Harp Piano
2 Violins
Viola
Violoncello
Double Bass (with 5 Strings)
The score has been written in C
Duration: 10’ 00’’
Piccolo sounds one octave higher than notated.
Glockenspiel and Crotales sound two octaves higher than notated.
Double Bass sounds one octave lower than notated.
Accidentals (including grace notes) only affect the pitch to which they directly refer, not other octaves, for the duration of the beat (just one beat) in which the accidental is written.
Programme Note
For a long time, I have been fascinated by different types of funeral march music in diverse cultures. What intrigues me is the irony in this specific genre. Melody and harmony in minor keys express sorrow and remorse while a rhythmic feature repeats itself underneath, evoking slow dance music. Many composers were interested in this irony. For instance, in the third movement of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, what starts as funeral music turns into a sarcastic dance. According to the Mahler scholar Constantin Floros, Moritz von Schwind’s woodcut ‘The Hunter’s Funeral’ (1890) was possibly the inspiration for this music.
The Hunter’s Funeral, scored for twelve players, is my response to the same woodcut. It depicts animals carrying a coffin of a hunter in a solemn march. This paradoxical scene gave me a strong inspiration for the piece. It starts with a very simple and rather mundane pitch cell, CD-E-F. The harmony structure and the melodies in the piece are all derived from the simple pitch cell, which gradually changes colour from bright to dark.
The music is divided into two movements with no gap in between. The first movement has a fast and rhythmic feature like dance music- groovy, sharp and energetic. The tempo of the dance music gets slower and a funeral march emerges in the second movement. Over the repetitive rhythm of the strings, the melodies in the woodwinds and the brass dominate the movement. In the final section, the melodies become heterophonic and eventually obsolete.
In London
Donghoon Shin
The Hunter's Funeral
Flute/
Cymb.,
S.
Hi-hat, 2 Congas, 2 Bongos, Bs. drum
Vibraphone
with cb. bow