Montage, Op. 89 (2018)

Program Notes:

At the beginning of the fall semester of my final year at Eastman, I was browsing Bret Newton's Bandestration site and ran across the section on crumhorns. I knew very little about crumhorns so, my curiosity piqued, I went to the Eastman Instrument Office and checked some out. Along with some friends from the music education department, we formed a crumhorn quartet in short order.

In a twist of fate, the "Rentet" (Renaissance quartet, since we also performed on recorders and, anachronistically, ocarinas) was the only legacy to survive my time at Eastman. Jordan Moore commissioned an original work for crumhorns for their second year of existence, since the repertoire for crumhorn is quite sparse.

"Montage" is based on the popular fifteenth-century tune "L'homme armé". In the dorian mode, it became the subject for more than forty masses, including settings by Josquin, du Fay, and Palestrina. The tune is presented alone at the beginning of the Monologue; the remaining movements treat it as a theme for variation. The five ditties are unrelated linking material, since the piece is performed attacca. Note that "Montage" is a theatre-piece; please make sure to keep the aisles free of personal belongings for the safety of the performers.