Gaetano-Weather of Six Mornings, The(7S) -V/B/X/M/C/P-SVX/FL

The Weather of Six Mornings by Mario Gaetano is a musical score pervaded by musical metaphor, most obvious of which are the tolling of funeral bells, and the constant bird song in the flute. From a technical standpoint, the pitch content for the composition is based on a six-tone set presented at the beginning of the piece. The intervallic relationships of this set are exploited in the six short movements of the work.

The poetry, "The Weather of Six Mornings," was written in 1967 and first appeared in The New Yorker magazine. It is an elegy, deeply personal, and reflects the poet's thoughts and feelings on six separate, consecutive mornings. The musical score was composed in 1992 and first performed at Western Carolina University on March 24, 1992, with the composer conducting. The work has since been dedicated to the memory of Dr. Eva Adcock, Professor Emeritus, Western Carolina University, Department of Music.

Instrumentation:
Player 1 - vibraphone (2 bows), tin can, 2 concert toms, tambourine, China cymbal, temple blocks, ratchet
Player 2 - glockenspiel, small maraca, tin can, xylophone, 4.3-octave marimba, 3 almglocken, chimes
Player 3 - crotales (one octave), low temple block, 2 China cymbals, bamboo wind chimes, concert bass drum
Player 4 - 3 triangles, military drum, drumset
Voice - Amplified with microphone and loudspeaker throughout; high woodblock with hard rubber mallet for Movement IV
Flute/Piccolo - brake drum (or cowbell) with hard rubber mallet for Movement IV