On the Road

This work was commissioned by Wim Van Hasselt in 2011, especially for the CD of the same title. Wim Van Hasselt was a permanent member of the trumpet section of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam between 2009 and 2014 and currently teaches trumpet at the Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg. Wim Henderickx also made versions of this work for saxophone, bass flute, tenor recorder, trombone, flugelhorn and traverso. The source of inspiration was the world-famous book of travel stories “On the Road” by the American author Jack Kerouac. It is a largely autobiographical work based on the spontaneous travels of Kerouac and his friends throughout America in the 1950s. The electronics in this composition create a flowing drone, a soundscape above which the trumpet evokes an oriental melody. Eastern philosophy was also a source of inspiration for the composer, as it was for the Tantric Cycle, the seven-part series he wrote between 2004 and 2010. More info: From a melodic phrase that circles around the note C, a melody gradually develops that creates the illusion of evolving into two and even three voices. The idea is evoked that one trumpet player is performing these three lines simultaneously. Glissandos gradually develop into repeated staccato notes, almost like Morse code. The second section begins in the low register of the trumpet, like a kind of mantra, with a high Morse-like melody in the second voice. In the third section, the glissandi are further elaborated. The suggestion of a main melody versus an echo forms the basis of this part. Finally, the fourth part starts back from the main note C (do), gradually fading away in the low register of the instrument, after which the electronics also slowly fade away. The electronics were developed with short sound elements from the trumpet, such as staccato tones, glissando tones, etc., circling and fluctuating microtonally around the note C. “On the Road” is a meditative work and at times evokes the idea of structured improvisation.