The Legend of the Crooked Stick

Description

Who wields the crooked stick and what is it for? Composer Bud Woodruff takes us on a musical journey in this quirkily-titled new work for the string orchestra.

Program Notes

I enjoy writing in minor keys because minor lends itself to unexpected changes and great variety. This piece is full of instances of those changes and that variety. An example is M.1-2 and M.4-5. The melody is identical in each location, but the harmonies are different. However, if you are not careful, the differences will go right past you.

I have tried to carefully mark any notes that I believe should be short with a staccato, and to mark any note that I suspect players would tend to play short, even though there is no staccato, with an elongation mark (-). Any unmarked note is intended to be long but distinct. A good stretch of the bow to use to achieve that result would be at the camber point (where the curve of the bow begins, looking from the frog), but the teacher is certainly free to use their own method, provided the result is pleasing to the listener’s ear.

The style of the piece changes in M.45-60, with an emphasis on dynamic changes. Then, in M.61, we have a return to the opening themes and style.