TRANSCENDENTAL CAKEWALK

Composer: 
Robert Carl
Scoring: 
sextet
Instrumentation freestyle: 
Alto Saxophone in Eb/Clarinet in Eb; Electric Guitar; Percussion(1): Marimba (hard mallets only) Trap set Tom-Toms [optional: see note in score]; Piano; Cello (preferably amplified); Contrabss (preferably amplified; because part is all pizzicato, bass guitar is also possible)
Year Authored: 
2000
Duration (min): 
8

Transcendental Cakewalk is a dance in the spirit of early twentieth-century American popular music. It is a projected accompaniment to an \ opera on the meeting of Mark Twain and Charles Ives (an event which actually happened). In the opera, Twain (who is examining Ives as to his fitness to be the groom of Harmony Twichell, Twain’s god-daughter) sits down at the piano, begins playing, and Ives joins in fourhand. The increasingly rambunctious and joyous music which results is an evocation of the generous and adventurous spirits of both artists.

In two portions of the work, improvisation is encouraged, especially in the repeated penultimate pair of measures. Instructions are detailed in the score itself.

Publisher: 
ACA
Publisher URL: 
American Composers Alliance

Ensemble Type