Written around ideas James Hultgren, my youngest son, wrote down on the
20th of August 2000. The sketches and scores of the band and string orchestra settings were completed
mid 2004 with engraving and publication following by late September, early October.
Context For Creation
This work is a definitive co-composition. My son James watched me compose
as we sat in an airport lounge. "What are you doing Daddy?" he enquired. After some simple explanation
and his expressed desired to 'do that too' James came up with simple melodies, as can be found in the
sketch noted below. The program note will give more context here as well.
Premiere
Brolga Music promotional recording session September/October 2004
Subsequent performances:
Various school and community band performances related to inclusion on select repertoire lists
for contest and festival both in Australia and the USA
Publisher
Brolga Music Publishing Company, Brisbane, Australia www.brolgamusic.com
in 2004.
The work is now published and has been placed on festival select
repertoire lists across the country.
Reflections
This is more a reflection on the process and the joy that went
with it. Watching James develop the ideas sitting across from me was a delight. "Sing me a D
please Dad," he asked at one stage as he worked his way through the simple lines he was writing.
I waited about a year before I sat with him and planned what we would do with the melodies and
how we might orchestrate using a string orchestra as he was a young violinist at the time. We
began with a template scribbled on paper; that led to a Finale score template, so that James
could hear the sounds as we manipulated them. Finally the full score, begun in that Finale
template, was realised with James making most of the major decisions about accompaniment,
harmony and extra voices. Many of the ideas were presented by me then interrogated by him before
he, most often made the final decision. "No Dad, that bass should go down there, not up" he told
me quite strongly at one stage. His innate musical acuity was much more developed than his
capacity to write the notes or explain in musical terms what he wanted. It was a fascinating
session for me as a teacher of composition and a delightful one for me as a Dad. I scored the
work for band at a later date. What also delighted me was his desire to have the composers noted
in the publication as 'James and Dad Hultgren'.