TITLE: Sextet (1993)

COMPOSER: Paul Rudy (b.1962)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Paul Rudy was born in 1962 in South Bend, Indiana. He studied trumpet and jazz at Bethel College (B.A. 1984), and composition at The University of Colorado, Boulder (M.M. 1992) and The University of Texas at Austin (D.M.A. 1997). In 1997, he traveled to New Zealand on a fellowship from the Fulbright Foundation. He also received fellowships from The University of Texas at Austin, and The University of Colorado, Boulder. Other honors include residencies at the Atlantic Center for the Arts and the Aspen Music Festival. Currently, Paul Rudy is Assistant Professor of Composition at the UMKC Conservatory of Music, where he also serves as Director of the Music Production and Computer Technology Center (MPACT). 

In the summers, Rudy travels to the Aspen Music School where he has been on faculty since 1995, teaching in the Electronic Music Workshop and assisting the director of the Aspen Center for Composition Studies. In 1996, he launched the Amplified Music Performance Series (AMPS) to present electro-acoustic concerts to the Aspen Music Festival audience. In 1999, He began producing a radio show for Roaring Fork Public Radio called "The Virtual Concert Hall." 

In 1994, Paul Rudy completed the Colorado Grand Slam after climbing all 54 of Colorado's 14,000 ft. peaks. His highest summit is Citlaltepetl (Pico de Orizaba) in central Mexico at 18,700 ft. (5,700 m.). He said, "his lifetime goal is to reach somewhere above 20,000 feet.

MOVEMENTS: One

PERFORMANCE TIME: 8' 00"

INSTRUMENTATION: 6 Instruments

• 1 Flute, 1 Oboe, 1 Clarinet, 1 Bassoon, 1 Alto Saxophone, 1 Horn

EDITIONS: Available for Purchase via composer

• Twisted Trails Music - owned by Paul Rudy - Write to the address below:

Paul Rudy - UMKC Conservatory of Music -

4949 Cherry - Kansas City, MO - 64110-2229 - USA

COMPOSITION SKETCH AND MUSICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Sextet for Saxophone and Wind Quintet, unlike the rest of my output began with a blank sheet of staff paper. Generally, I begin a composition with some sort of image. Often, the image will be generated by a particular place that I have been, or an experience that I have had; or by emotional responses to these places and experiences. For the Sextet, I had no particular sentiment, emotion, or image in mind. The composition is a spinning out of two ideas, one a short melodic motive and the other harmonic pitch set.

The work opens with solo bassoon stating the harmonic idea as an abstract melody. The generating melodic idea is stated by the saxophone after this slow introduction. This motive, an ascending step followed by a leap outlining a seventh, is manipulated throughout the work to generate motives, melodies, accompaniments, and, along with the harmonic pitch set, even chorales.

The form of the work alternates sections of slow and fast. A slow introduction precedes the A section (fast-slow) followed by the B (fast-slow). The bassoon solo returns after a fast rhythmic section (contrasting material) and gives the impression of a recapitulation. A coda, of drastically different texure from the rest of the work, gives the perception of an open ended form, i.e. one that does not end where it began. This openended form is further corroborated by an upbeat ending.

-- Note by Paul Rudy

SELECTED RECORDINGS:

• RudyP@umkc.edu - Available from composer Paul Rudy.

RELATED WEBSITES:

Paul Rudy's Web Page - http://cctr.umkc.edu/user/conservatory/prudy/prudy.html