Cinco de Mayo

Cinco de Mayo

May 5, 2020

Duet Version Commissioned by Hadley Reynolds

From “Maytudes” – a french horn etude project in consultation with Gail Williams, with one etude created every day during the month of May, 2020

Program Notes from composer Jim Stephenson (from original Maytudes etude book):

Today was a bit frustrating.
I was all set to write a really fun etude in a Latin style, given the day,
but then I woke up to a computer that wouldn’t work for over an hour.
Once I got it working, my festive mood had abated a bit.
I had thought of calling this one “Cinco de Minor” –
but why inflict my worries upon everyone else…
So I just wrote it in a minor key instead, leaving the title and tempo indication as is.

I’m afraid I have created a bit of an earworm here – but since worms do have a traditional reference with tequila (not that I would know…), so be it.

Players familiar with the famous Widor Organ Symphony No. 5
will sense a similarity at measure 35. This was completely unintentional.
But since it’s his FIFTH symphony, and he has FIVE letters in his last name,
well there’s a 5/5 right there. And he has FIVE names: Charles-Marie Jean Albert Widor. That’s a lot of fives. I should get a high-five for all of that.

OK – onto the music.

Perhaps my tempo marking is a bit quick. I’ll leave that up to the player. I do hope that the rhythms and arpeggiated figures prove fun to play and provide a decent enough challenge to make the earworm worth it.

Just be happy I didn’t write about a sink full of mayonnaise.