Tilson Thomas FOUR PRELUDES ON PLAYTHINGS OF THE WIND by ScoresOnDemand

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MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS

Four Preludes on

Playthings of the Wind

a Theater Piece for Solo Soprano and Two Female Voices, Bar Band, and Chamber Orchestra

Text by Carl Sandburg

ISSUU Version for perusal only

MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS

Four Preludes on

Playthings of the Wind

a Theater Piece for Solo Soprano and Two Female Voices, Bar Band, and Chamber Orchestra

Text by Carl Sandburg

Full Score

Instrumentation

Chamber Orchestra

Flute, doubling Alto Flute

An extra player may be used for the Piccolo part, in which case certain passages should be played by both Flute and Piccolo together, as indicated in the score. These passages begin at bars 511, 558, 661, and 687

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Oboe, doubling English Horn

2 Clarinets in B♭ , Clarinet 1 doubling Clarinet in E♭ ; Clarinet 2, doubling Bass Clarinet Bassoon

Horn in F Trumpet in C Bass Trombone

Percussion, 3 players:

2 Triangles (low & high)

Suspended Cymbal

Tam-tam (medium)

4 Brake Drums (low to high) Tambourine Congas

Snare Drum Bass Drum

Lion’s Roar

2 Wood Blocks (low & high)

Vibraslap Ratchet

Crotales Chimes

Flexatone

Glockenspiel

Xylophone

Marimba

Vibraphone

Harp

Piano, doubling Celesta & Synthesizer

Synthesizer patches: Kalimba, and Piano sounding a quarter-tone under concert pitch

Strings: 8, 6, 4, 4, 3

Duration: approx. 30’

Composed: 2015-2016. Revised 2019

Bar Band

Alto Saxophone in E♭ , doubling Soprano Saxophone in B♭

Tenor Saxophone in B♭ , doubling Baritone Saxophone in E♭ Trumpet in B♭

Tenor Trombone

2 Electric Guitars. Pedals required: dirty tone (distortion), chorus (Gtr. 2) & tremolo

5-String Electric Bass Fretless bass is optional for some passages

Drum Kit

Synthesizer Nord Stage 2 EX Keyboard is recommended

World Premiere: April 30, 2016. Measha Brueggergosman-Lee, Kara Dugan, Mikaela Bennet, Michael Tilson Thomas, New World Symphony

Definitive Edition: 2025

Performance Notes:

‘Playthings’ can also be performed as a concert piece. For theatrical perfomances contact Schirmer for rider and technical details.

In some divisi passages, only the last desks of both violin sections should play the lower line, creating together a third violin line for 4 players. This is indicated in the score by div. 3:1 (i.e. three desks to one) in the Violin 1 part and by div. 2:1 in the Violin 2 part.

In bar 9 and similar passages, the tremoli in Percussion, Piano, Electric Bass, and Cellos do not need to be in exact 32nd notes. However, the first note should always be lengthened in duration.

After bar 21, there is an optional cut to Rehearsal A (measure 32)

Composer’s Notes:

In Carl Sandburg’s collection Smoke and Steel the images of speed and outcry have a powerful effect. One of his poems, “Four Preludes on Playthings of the Wind,” strikes me as a honky-tonk version of Percy Bysshe Shelly’s Ozymandias

In 1976, I made a rough piano version as a possible piece for the American Bicentennial. The mixture of musical styles was there from the beginning. In Santa Fe, in 2003, the sketches were brought into a continuous form, and in 2015-16 it expanded into a piece for solo soprano, backup singers, bar band, and chamber orchestra.

Vocally, the piece is inspired by Sarah Vaughan, Leontyne Price, James Brown, and Igor Stravinsky all artists I had the pleasure of knowing. I realized that the piece would be perfect for Measha Brueggergosman-Lee and she became my collaborator in bringing it to life. Bruce Coughlin aided me in realizing the score.

Playthings travels back-and-forth in time and in style. The same material is taken up by a chamber orchestra and the bar band, both developing it in their own ways. The piece opens with a bluesy clarinet solo accompanied by the chamber orchestra which gradually introduces the main motives of the piece. The voice enters, half-speaking Sandburg’s introductory line, “The past is a bucket of ashes,” punctuated by the sound of a cash register. The bar band comes crashing in, playing the same music that the chamber orchestra played but in the style of late 1950’s rockabilly. From there on the music swerves, following the text between various lyrical, pop, and modernist styles. Gradually, the two instrumental ensembles become more enmeshed and mournfully intense. A final post-apocalyptic party scene careens into a breakdown before the lyrical and ominous mood of the opening returns.

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