Works

Leviathan is in two movements: a slow opening movement (“Awakening”) and a fast second movement (“The Hunt”). The introduction of the first movement incorporates harmonic series in the horns and tubas which use notes which are out-of-tune with the rest of the ensemble. (Horn and tuba players normally change fingerings to correct those out-of-tune notes, but that is not done here.) The second movement is a chaconne — a form based on a repeating chord progression. The chord progression heard at the beginning of the movement is heard, in various forms, in the seven variations that follow.
The LSU Wind Ensemble (Damon Talley, Director) premiered Leviathan on November 29, 2023.

A “scintilla” is a spark. The notes of the opening scale (a synthetic or “made-up” scale) provide the kernel or spark from which much of the material of the piece is derived. The work is in one movement and makes use of one primary theme and several subordinate melodies. All of the melodies in the piece are related, in some way, to the notes of the opening scale.

Chalumeau is a “dirge” (a slow, mournful song performed in commemoration of the dead) for wind ensemble. It is a relatively short work (about five minutes) which makes use of one primary melody first heard in the “chalumeau” (low) register of the clarinets. The work avoids any clear tonal center and is rather quiet throughout.

Chalumeau was premiered by Frank Wickes and the Louisiana State University Wind Ensemble. It was written in memory of two of my brothers, David Edward Hayden and Vernon Cecil (“Pat”) Hayden.

The subtitle of this work is “Latin Steps” since each movement makes use of various Latin-American dance rhythms. Much of the first movement uses a rumba rhythm in a moderate tempo. The second movement is a tango, and the finale is a fast dance in 6/8. The work’s harmonic language, however, is quite chromatic and makes no attempt to evoke folk music.

This work is also available for sale in a piano reduction (see the Chamber Music section above).