Tyler Taylor, Wind Quintet (2013)

Quintet for Winds (2013) Tyler Taylor
I. Red with Complements of Green @0:06
II. Pastel @2:23
III. Iridescent Blots @6:05

Here's a throwback to my first commissioned work – a wind quintet in three movements based around color associations. Though I no longer work in this style, I think fondly of this piece. It marks a moment when my work turned in a different direction and I'm proud of all its clumsy, youthful whimsy!

Performers:
Flute - Carrie Matheny, Scott Sams - Oboe, Alexandra Enyart - Clarinet, Tyler Taylor - Horn, Jackie Royce - Bassoon

Notes:

I’ve found the association of color with different moods of music to be quite strong – not only for myself, but for others as well. Through these three movements, I have assigned titles that very generally reflect the color sensation they make evoke. Aside from ideas of color, this piece explores a variety of emotions and characters ranging from youthful whim, elation, wit, and humor to despair and woe. The wind quintet, with five unique instruments, offers a myriad colors and timbres, making it the perfect medium for this idea.

I believe it was in this piece that I first began to explore and develop aspects of my own compositional aesthetic. While influences from that time in my development were still very much present, Stravinsky first and foremost, I used a number of compositional techniques in this piece that would serve as the foundation for almost all of my other works. The piece began as a very open ended commission by a group of very advanced performers – this gave me a since of liberty to write whatever I wanted and an inspiring sense of daring boldness to deliver a piece that would truly impress them.

Having performed in a number of wind quintets myself, I became envious of my woodwind colleagues and the impressive passagework entrusted to them over the seemingly secondary material given to the horn. I set out to write a wind quintet that would address this very issue – the horn is given a significant amount of technical material and is elevated to a level of equal contribution.