Refracted Moonlight

Refracted Moonlight is a masterfully crafted interpretation of motives & melodies from Debussy's "Claire de Lune" viewed through the filter of the octatonic scale. Although Cairns uses fragments of Debussy's piece, this is an imaginative, purely original work for wind band that is deeply satisfying for everyone who experiences it.

Program Notes

Refracted Moonlight was composed for, and is dedicated to, Prof. Gary Brandes and the members of the University of Missouri – St. Louis Wind Ensemble. This is a piece on which I began working in July, 2013, and finished during December of the same year.

On some level, "Refracted Moonlight" represents a modernization of Debussy’s famous piano piece, "Clair de lune" ("Suite Bergamasque," mvt. 3). Virtually all of the main harmonic and melodic elements of Debussy’s composition are found in mine, but always manipulated and transformed. The title, Refracted Moonlight, gives some clues as to the compositional approach I took. Moonlight refers to Debussy’s "Clair de lune" (which, of course, is French for “moonlight”). Refracted refers to the phenomenon that is observed when a beam of light changes direction as it passes through a boundary between two media. While I’m certain that my own understanding of refraction is not terribly sophisticated, it is a concept that I have found compositionally suggestive. Simply put, I have tried to pass various melodic fragments, chords, and harmonic progressions from "Clair de lune" through a sort of musical filter, so that we might be able to hear what they sound like when viewed through a different lens. Due to some of the specific features of various motives of "Clair de lune," I have chosen to use three octatonic collections as my filters. An octatonic collection can be thought of as an eight-note scale made up of alternating half and whole steps. So, in a sense, "Refracted Moonlight" is made up of octatonic renderings of the material of "Clair de lune."

Structurally, I have tried to maintain the overall form of Debussy’s work, but with the insertion of a number of octatonic episodes that serve to develop the various motives presented. You will hear a beginning that sounds very much like Debussy, but with some unique harmonic progressions and modulations. After a full ensemble statement of the main theme, the tonal fabric gradually twists and bends its way into full-fledged octatonicism. Here, the low brass introduces a rhythmically altered version of one of the previously stated "Clair de lune" themes, accompanied by a driving, relentless percussion ostinato. Various motives from the Debussy piece are refracted through the same octatonic lens and are presented on top of this low brass figure. After a tutti passage, the horns take over with the primary theme from "Clair de lune," again in an octatonic setting. This builds again to the full ensemble, and then drops down to a small series of woodwind solos on a new theme, not taken strictly from the Debussy, but built from prominent intervals within the piece. A slower octatonic episode follows, with a gradual accelerando to the climax of the piece, where Debussy’s original tonality returns in a triumphant, majestic B-flat major…but only briefly. Following this, the work concludes with an extremely dissonant and aggressive final statement of the low brass theme from earlier, and a series of eight-note chords punctuated by the percussion.

I was extremely grateful for the opportunity to conduct the University of Missouri – St. Louis Wind Ensemble in the premiere of "Refracted Moonlight" on March 5, 2014.

Grade Level: 5
Copyright: 2019
Number of Players: Standard
Duration: 7:35

Listen to Recordings

Sample PDF

Watch Video

Instrumentation

Flute 1
Flute 2
Oboe
Bassoon
Clarinet 1
Clarinet 2
Clarinet 3
Bass Clarinet
Alto Saxophone 1
Alto Saxophone 2
Tenor Saxophone
Baritone Saxophone

Trumpet 1
Trumpet 2
Trumpet 3
Trumpet 4
F Horn 1
F Horn 2
F Horn 3
F Horn 4
Trombone 1
Trombone 2
Trombone 3
Euphonium
TC Baritone
Tuba

Timpani (4 drums)
Percussion 1 (Marimba [5-octave], Snare Drum, Bass Drum [shared], Suspended Cymbal)
Percussion 2 (Vibraphone [shared], Bongos)
Percussion 3 (Crash Cymbals, Triangle, 2 Concert Toms, Xylophone, Slapstick)
Percussion 4 (Suspended Cymbal, Bells, 2 Brake Drums, Bass Drum [shared], Vibraphone [shared])