Shift
-French Horn Duet
Everything shifts in Shift. The melodic lead shifts back and forth between the two players. Tempos shift from largo to allegro, articulation from legato to staccato, dynamics from pp to ff, and mood from reverent to majestic. But the key element is the shift in rhythmic styles.
The piece begins with a slow rubato section that is sometimes embellished with personal affectations as to make it a dual credenza. For purposes of this demonstration, the performance conforms to the score as noted. The two horns play against each other rather than in unison. This section is quickly followed by a smooth, choir-like passage that joins the horns into a common force.
What follows is a display of various rhythmic sections that require the adaptation of different styles of musical expression: from fluid, song-like expressions in the classical style, to syncopated jazz-like expressions. The Shift in interpretative skills is demanding.
The note range for both instruments is not demanding. Performance time is approximately 8:30 minutes with possible edits for use as an encore piece.
Shift is not glaringly difficult, but it was intentionally designed to exploit the unique tonal characteristics of the French horn. Blending of the two instruments is essential to a successful performance.
The substitution of baritone/euphonium for French horn is possible. Please contact us if you desire this substitution format. We will make the transpositions to the manuscript before shipping. The reference CD and the MP3 samples below are performed by two French horns.
MP3 and PDF excerpts can be seen and heard using the links below.
Excerpt 1
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Shift
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