Work Listing

Monopoly: Four Miniatures for Ten horns
I. Mayfair
II. Go To Jail
III. The Railroad Company
IV. Do Not Collect $200 As You Pass Go

2015

Emma Gregan

(1993–)
Listen Here: Soundcloud

Description:

Monopoly is a virtuosic piece for ten horns comprised of four miniatures to be performed without break. The allocation of parts is slightly unusual as my intention was to write for two quintets resembling five-member orchestral sections. The order from highest to lowest in range is [1, 4, 3, 2, 5] in the first quintet and similarly [6, 9, 8, 7, 10] in the second. The main purpose of this is to facilitate natural grouping of both even and odd numbers of horns for different sections of the piece as there are many three and five voice passages as well as traditionally paired voicings. Nevertheless, this is a personal preference and can be rearranged if desired. This piece was inspired by a friend who was often enraged by the mechanics of the board game Monopoly, which eventually became a great source of amusement between us. In writing this piece I have tried to capture the mixture of entertainment and frustration many of us experience when playing the game by adding some unexpected and diabolical flavours to traditional compositional structures such as the canon and twelve-bar blues. Each miniature is intended to be a fun yet provocative caricature of various features of the board game. “Mayfair” introduces the harmonic language of the piece in a stately and unsettling fanfare representing the race for the prestigious real estate at the beginning of the game. “Go To Jail” describes the stages of frustration upon being subjected to this particular misfortune. It features an anxious melody with muted horns sniggering behind its back, various obnoxious interjections, and wandering, diminished ostinati that seem to line up in all the wrong places, sending the melody back to the start in rising keys and more desperate tones. This represents the inevitable multiple failed attempts at escape. As this desperation reaches a climax, a loud dissonant alarm sharply heralds “The Railroad Company”. Constant movement throughout all the parts sets a fast and relentless pace from the start in this miniature inspired by the classic train heist scenes of old Western films. Throughout this section, distant trains can be heard as the thematic material continues to layer on top of itself, bringing the chase to a head. “Do Not Collect $200 As You Pass Go” is an upbeat twelve-bar blues with a contemporary classical twist. The parts are particularly soloistic and acrobatic and should be played with energy and abandon.

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Publication Details:

Self-published

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