Michael Forbes

Textures

Textures was composed in 1996 for the Penn State Tuba/Euphonium Ensemble and commissioned by Marty Erickson. It is a symphony for 12-part tuba/euphonium ensemble in three movements that explores differing levels of thickness in scoring and harmonic timbre in the three movements: Transparent, Translucent, and Opaque.
The first movement,Transparent, explores pentatonic harmonies, with intense multi-meter hocket and even a fugal structure. Rhythmic motives that permeate the entire work are introduced here. Translucent, slow and meditative, has a cloudy texture with its diatonic and modal character.
The last movement, Opaque, opens with a recapitulation of the previous harmonic textures before exploring its more busy rhythmic, chromatic texture. The movement also recalls the various themes from previous movements before driving home its own theme followed by a rhythmic, bombastic finale.

For performance
The work may also accommodate a larger ensemble simply by doubling the parts equally. 'Smack mouthpiece cup' means hitting (not too strongly) the cup of the mouthpiece with the hand.
The work is intended to be performed in its entirety, however individual movements may be performed alone.
Michael Forbes, December 2016, Mount Horeb, Winsconsin, USA