Three Unaccompanied Pieces for Horn

by Gina Gillie

$23

Gina Gillie wrote her Three Unaccompanied Pieces for Horn from 2005-2007, during her graduate schooling at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She studied horn with Douglas Hill, who encouraged all of his students to write music for their instrument and was one of the prime originators of extended techniques for horn. The title of the first piece, Transcension, is a combination of the words “transcend” and “ascension” and is meant to portray the process of dealing with a hardship that one eventually transcends and rises above. Song is a simple pouring forth of melody: Gillie wrote the music initially with no thought to meter, and instead applied a mix of meters after the melody had been written. A fast, metric middle section provides contrast to the “song.” Ditty for Jonathan was inspired by Gillie’s younger brother, Jonathan, the most rambunctious sibling of the family, who has a propensity for fast cars and bikes, but who also has an affectionate side. This piece is influenced by jazzy motives as well as a fast-paced tune in asymmetric and mixed meters that contain varied accents and articulations. The first and third pieces utilize extended techniques for the horn such as stopped horn, multiphonics, scoops, bends, flutter-tonguing and half-valving. The pieces can be played as a set or performed individually.