Sigma Alpha Iota

20 Winter 2023 • sai-national.org Cposers of Scotland. He was a meticulously concise composer and his sparse yet vividly orchestrated score perfectly depicts the various sections the poem. All four works build to that moment when Tam yells out "Weel done, Cutty Sark!" Glover has the tenor sing the words and the harmonies move from A major to F major to D-flat major, the most startling modulations in the entire piece. Chadwick has fortissimo bassoons and horns mimic the words in five notes: f-sharp, d-natural, c-natural, e-natural, and f-sharp. Arnold has fortissimo trombones also mimic the words in six notes: c-sharp glissando to e-natural, c-sharp, b-natural, e-natural, and then a-natural. My work brings the quartet of singers in to sing the words in a culminating cluster of f-natural, b-flat, e-natural, and a-natural punctuated by repeated eighth notes in the strings. All four musical settings can be compared by dividing the poem's text or action into nine major sections: 1. Overture 2. Tam drinks with Souter Johnnie and friends 3. As Tam drinks with friends, a storm rages outside 4. Tam leaves his friends and rides in the storm towards Kirk Alloway on the way home 5. Tam arrives at Kirk Alloway to see the devil playing the violin, witches and warlocks dancing 6. Tam yells out "Weel done, Cutty Sark" (highpoint of the pieces) 7. Spirits chase Tam as he rides Meg towards the River Doon, where he can escape them 8. Moral of the tale: Avoid drinking and the wild temptations of the devil 9. Coda dddIn order to fully appreciate Tam o' Shanter I would suggest first listening to a recitation of the poem: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=PJ-xw3oBCeY; then listen to the Arnold overture: https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=g6BwG56IiCI; and, finally the Chadwick tone-poem: https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=jYs8zUucSO4. My 30-minute dramatic work was premiered in January 2023 and if you email me at hjthoms@aol.com and request a link to the video performance of my work, I should able to give you a link to the premiere at that time. All four works take a different musical stance in setting the Burns' poem: Glover, an episodic dramatic work for tenor and chorus setting only half of the text, assuming the listener would already know the story of the tale; Chadwick, an elaborate tone-poem, providing the listener with an expanded late 19th-century sonorous experience; Arnold, a dramatically concise overture, providing the listener with a succinct and delightful summary of the poem; and my work, an expanded almost opera-like setting alternating the Tam o' Shanter poem with the John Barleycorn ballad, providing the listener with a more complex literary unfolding of a number of Burns' poems as they relate to the moral of the tale. In the meantime, "remember Tam o' Shanter's mare." Composer and researcher Hollis oms has had a number of articles published in PAN PIPES over the years. He has had 40 articles published in journals and written over 150 musical works: symphonies, operas, chamber music, vocal, and choral music. He has a masters in composition from Northwestern University and finished the course work for the PhD in composition from the Eastman School of Music. In addition, he has an EdS in educational administration from the University of Toledo and a masters in liberal studies from St. Johns College, Annapolis. He was a teacher of English and music and a school administrator for over 30 years. He has been the recipient of a Joseph Klingenstein Fellowship to Columbia University, an Alden B. Dow Creativity Fellow, was a Fulbright Exchange Teacher to Scotland, and was selected to participate in the summer principal seminar at Harvard University Graduate School of Education. His musical compositions and research projects are in special collections at the Maryland State Archives, Folger Shakespeare Library, Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, and Church Music Center at Concordia University- Chicago. View his composer website and booklets available for purchase at: www. hollisthoms.com. Hollis Thoms' score from his opera Hollis Thoms' score from his opera Weel done, cutty sark! Weel done, cutty sark!

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