Instrumentation

Piccolo

Flute 1 (2 players)

Flute 2 (2 players)

Oboe 1

Oboe 2

English Horn

Bassoon 1

Bassoon 2

Contrabassoon

Eb Clarinet

Bb Clarinet 1

Bb Clarinet 2

Bb Clarinet 3

Bass Clarinet

Alto Saxophone 1

Alto Saxophone 2

Doubles Soprano Saxophone

Tenor Saxophone

Baritone Saxophone

C Trumpet 1

C Trumpet 2

C Trumpet 3

F Horn 1

F Horn 2

F Horn 3

F Horn 4

Trombone 1

Trombone 2

Bass Trombone

Euphonium 1

Euphonium 2

Tuba 1

Tuba 2

String Bass

Timpani

Percussion 1

Field Drum, 2 Suspended Cymbals (14″ and 18″), Tam-tam (Large)

Percussion 2

Bass Drum, Crash Cymbals

Percussion 3

Chimes, Crotales, Glockenspiel, Tambourine

Percussion 4

Crash Cymbals, Marimba (4 octave), Vibraphone

Harp

Piano/Celesta

Program Notes

Goyaesques is a musical depiction of 5 paintings by the Spanish Painter Francisco Goya (1746 – 1828).

The piece opens with regal chords depicting La familia de Carlos IV, a portrait of the Spanish royal family. Not everyone in the painting is beautiful, on the contrary some are rather disgusting and hag-like, while others are young children – some looking the wrong way or hiding behind their parents. The central figure is Queen Maria Luisa , who by all accounts ran the country while the king was out hunting. Goya “photo-bombed” this portrait and can be seen at his easel in the back left.

Corral de locos shows an event at an insane asylum. Goya feared losing his own sanity and it became a central theme in much of his work. In this painting two men are fighting with the warden intervening. The alto saxophone, perhaps the most insane of all instruments, takes the listener from a recessed hiding spot forward out into the yard. Others join in watching the brief fight before everyone retreats back into the shadows.

La maja desnuda was a very controversial painting in Goya’s time. The woman is proud of her body and not afraid to flaunt it. The music swirls around lushly but we are left with a hint of a question – nothing is certain about who the subject was. Some have speculated that she was Goya’s mistress, or perhaps the prime-minister’s mistress. She could be a composite of many women. Either way, she would have certainly been looked down on for posing for this portrait.

El baile de San Antonio de la Florida is a dance in rondo form. Goya’s painting shows a group of musicians and dancers in the countryside. The open circle invites us to join in the dance. A few people take turns with solo dances with the whole group dancing between soloists. The music culminates in everyone doing their own variation on the dance in their own time, but expertly ending together.

Saturno devorando a su hijo is one of Goya’s “Black Paintings.” After going deaf, Goya bought a home called Quinta del Sordo or “House of the Deaf.” Here he lived in seclusion and painted several works whose themes are were intense, haunting and dark. These were never meant for public view and were painted directly onto the walls of the house. Saturno depicts the Titan Kronos (Romanized to Saturn) eating his newborn son after it was foretold that one of his sons would overtake him. The music is primal and terrifying with a steady ticking of a clock. As bells toll, the hour gets closer and closer to the birth where upon he immediately devours the infant whole. Shock and awe are all we are left with, as the carnage echoes in our minds.