Red Balloon for Baritone Saxophone, Vibraphone, and Marimba (No. 6b from Paul Klee: Painted Songs)

Red Balloon for Baritone Saxophone, Vibraphone, and Marimba No. 6b from Paul Klee: Painted Songs

Jonathan Posthuma

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About Paul Klee: Painted Songs Paul Klee: Painted Songs is an ongoing series of instrumental chamber works inspired by the visual art of Paul Klee. The series began in 2011 as a composition assignment from my first composition teacher, Luke Dahn, who asked all of his students to compose a work for clarinet and piano inspired by the iconic "Twittering Machine." Over the years, I have added to the series, continuing to draw on the wealth of inspiration from Klee's images, which are filled with musical references, textures, colors, and symbols that closely link musical concepts with his Klee's philosophy of visual art. To me, these pieces are musical settings of visual poetry, hence "painted songs." What continues to fascinate me about Klee is both the diversity and consistency of his total body of work. Throughout his vast career, certain ideas continue to resurface and find new applications. In this spirit, Paul Klee: Painted Songs continues to expand, ever exploring the poetry of his work through musical interpretation.

Performing Paul Klee: Painted Songs Each piece within Paul Klee: Painted Songs can be performed separately and is considered an independent, free-standing musical work. But, performers are encouraged to recontextualize these pieces into "galleries." Like a curator of an art gallery, performers can combine these works in any order or number, interpolate them with other works by other composers, or arrange them for different instrumental forces. Some pieces are more flexible than others, but the full work is designed to be self-referential and open to interpretation. As the series grows larger, I have aided "curators" by arranging and composing my own "galleries," multi-movement works that were conceived together, but even these can be rearranged and will evolve as more "painted songs" are added to the series and developed in collaboration with performers.

About "Red Balloon" (Roter Balloon, 1922) A large circular red balloon floats lazily above a colorful set of buildings. This balloon floats aimlessly, like a gentle giant that doesn’t know its own power. As the composer imagined the flight of this balloon, the diverse yet comical qualities of the tuba seemed fitting for the balloon’s character.

Note: No. 6b "Red Balloon" is an arrangement for baritone saxophone and percussion of a work originally for tuba and percussion. No. 6b appears as Mvt. III in Gallery I.

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Red Balloon (Roter Balloon, 1922)

Transposed Score

No. 6b* from "Paul Klee: Painted Songs" Slowly, Lightly (without time) (q = 40 approx.) Jonathan Posthuma (b. 1989)

" Un œ U" U "b œ U" U" " U U b œ √ œ U œ œ œ œ " b œ b œ b œ 3 œ œ & b œ Œ bbœœ Œ " œœ Œ nœ Œ œ Œ bœ Œ bœœ Œ bœœ Œ b œœ Œ 4 2

Vibraphone

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

p (but with crisp attack)

°

rotors on (slow)

Gently; q = 86 smoothly, molto legato

œ ˙™

3˙ &4

10

Bari. Sax.

Vib.

3 & 4 {

˙™ œ œ n œ œ

#˙

11

12

13

p

∑

rotors off

?3 Mar. { 4

∑

mp

&

Bari. Sax.

Vib.

Mar.

{

18

œ

œ

œ

° ˙™

œ

œ

bœ

œ bœ

œ bœ

ø œ

bœ ˙ ™

ø ˙™

mp

ø bœ œ œ mp

mf 19

˙ mf

{& œ ?

œ œ J

Ϫ

16

b˙

° b˙ œ

œ b˙ ™

Œ œ œ ˙

œ™ œ œ ˙ ™ J mp

bœ ˙

mf

°

15

mf

œ b˙ ™

Œ œ bœ ˙

p stacked behind Vibraphone

17

14

œ

20

˙™ p

b˙ ™

œ nœ œ nœ œ

mf

p

˙™

p mf * originally for Tuba, Vibraphone, and Marimba © 2011, 2015 by Jonathan Posthuma Demodocus Music Publishing www.jonathanposthuma.com

° -œ œ p

f sub.

&

-œ œ f sub.

-œ œ

4

21

Bari. Sax.

22

darkly

& ˙

œ

f

Vib.

{&

œ œ

-œ

Mar. { & Ó

œ œ œ ˙ &

25

Bari. Sax.

26

Vib.

Mar.

{&

{

f

°

œ œ œ bœ œ °

-œ

Ó

27

œ œ ˙

f

bœ

˙™

˙

œ

mf

œ œ bœ

°

23

28

ø ° b-œ Œ

° Ó

29

˙™

Œ Œ

Œ Œ

cresc.

°

œ °

Œ Œ

˙™ œ œ œ œ bœ

bœ œ œ œ œ

Œ

mf

œ

24

>œ

>œ

mp

-œ

Œ

30

Œ

&

>œ >œ

ff molto sonoroso

bœ °

Œ Œ

-œ œ ‰Œ J

ff

°

Œ

-œ œJ ‰ Œ

°

Œ

-œœ b œœ b œœ b œœ b œœ n œœ œœ b -œœ b œœ b œœ bœ œ œ Œ Œ Œ ‰ œJbœ œ ‰ œœœ œ & Œ J mf f ff cresc. ∑ ∑ & Œ œ- œ- Œ bœ- œ- Œ œ- œ- Œ œ œ © 2011, 2015 by Jonathan Posthuma Demodocus Music Publishing www.jonathanposthuma.com

5

31

&

Bari. Sax.

-˙

-œ

{

-œ œJ ‰ Œ Œ

Œ

mf

°

°

very lyrically

˙- ™

35

b -œ ˙˙ œ b ˙˙ ™™ b bœ ‰ Œ Œ b ˙ bœœ œ œ œ J

-œ œJ ‰ Œ Œ

& {

œ nœ œ œ

#˙

38

mf

mf chorale-like, espressivo

°

{

?

ø

ø

∑ ∑

∑

39

˙™

40

?

œ Œ œ

f

Œ bœ Œ

œ™ œ œ J

f

bœœœ bb˙˙˙ ™™™

n ˙˙ & n˙

&

∑

° ø ø

f

°

mf

˙ œ ˙™ 36

f

∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏∏

∑

&

Bari. Sax.

Mar.

-˙ ™

34

nœbœœ œb œœ bœ ‰ nœbœ œ œ œ ‰ œbœ bœ Œ ‰ & J J œœ J

37

Vib.

-˙™

33

mf

-œ œ Vib. { & J ‰ Œ

Mar.

32

41

˙™

∑

∑

∑

∑

42

œ™ œJ œ

mf

˙˙ ™™ ˙˙ ™™ b bœ œ œ œ œ œ bb˙˙œ ™™ bœ œ b˙˙œ ™™ œ œ ø ø ø ø

ø

∑

œ Œ œ Œ mf

∑

∑

∑

∑

∑

∑

∑

∑

© 2011, 2015 by Jonathan Posthuma Demodocus Music Publishing www.jonathanposthuma.com

6

œ œ œ &

43

Bari. Sax.

44

˙

œ

Mar.

˙˙ ™™ & { œ bœ bœ {&

ø

∑

molto rit.

˙™

46

mp

f

Vib.

45

ø

∑

ø

œ

f

bbœœœ bn ˙˙˙ ™™™

bb˙˙˙

˙

ø

bœ b œœ ø

f

Œ b˙˙ ˙ p

U ˙™ pp

bb˙˙˙

mp

47

°

Œ bbœœœ Œ mp

˙™ bb˙˙™™ ø

pp

Œ bœœ Œ pp

November 2011, Sioux Center, IA revised 2015, Madison,WI

© 2011, 2015 by Jonathan Posthuma Demodocus Music Publishing www.jonathanposthuma.com