Jack Stamp

Divertimento In F

Divertimento in 'F' was commissioned by Louisiana State University Wind Ensemble, Frank Wickers, Director. A work of five contrasting movements, each was written to illustrate a different compositional style and to portray a different emotion. Fanfare is a grand announcement using quartal and quintal harmonies, imitative counterpoint and some minimalist techniques. It is dedicated to the composer's composition teacher, Fisher Tull. Fate is a musical tribute to the great American composer William Schuman, employing many of Schuman's techniques, especially the use of polychords. It contains a brief quote from Schuman's Third Symphony. Fury, a dissonant, angular and harmonically thick movement, was influenced greatly by American composer, Joan Tower with whom the composer studied at the time of its creation. Mixed meter is used to convey the illusion of accelerando. Dedicated to the composer's four closest friends, all of whom are clergy, Faith weaves the composer's feelings of friendship, love hymns, and sense of personal faith into this six variation set on the Scottish hymn tune 'Duandee.' The final movement, Frolic, is the most lighthearted of the movements and completes the work by quoting material from the first movement. This movement is dedicated to the American composer, David Diamond.