Gabriel Gallegos

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Fantasia metalofono chronicles two contrasting narratives by melding elements of the vibraphone's history in jazz, sci-fi television themes, and mid-century film scores with my own experience as a Chicano composer.

The introduction showcases the vibraphone's secret weapona variable-speed motor capable of simulating slow undulating waves, an anxious heartbeat, or a rapid, dizzying flutter. This effect is frequently utilized in television and film scores to depict otherworldly encounters, suspenseful situations, and paranormal activities. Here, it is used to demonstrate the instrument's ability to create and resolve tension through the use of its variable speed dial.

Following a cinematic-style theme reflective of my film scoring background, the instrument effortlessly settles into the genre it is most commonly associated with: jazz. Metalofono borrows elements of cool, modal, and avante-garde subgenres to craft a lively exploration of the vibraphone's prominent role in the nostalgic artform.

The piece concludes with a delicate cancion ranchera, a type of traditional Mexican folk song usually depicting themes of love, heartbreak, or patriotism. Growing up in South Texas, Mexican folk music was a consistent and familiar presence, regardless of ever-changing outside musical trends, and was fundamental in my development as a composer. Although typically performed with mariachi instruments, the vibraphone interprets this style of music with heartfelt grace and closes out the piece with an air of pride and optimism.

Fantasia metalofono

Keyboard Percussion Solo Unaccompanied

<p>"Fantasia Chalumeau" is an unusual coupling of two alto voices: the viola and the ill-fated Eb alto clarinet. This duet explores the robust chalumeau register of the alto clarinet and eccentric personalities of both instruments. The piece opens to a deep, moody melody line in the alto clarinet as the viola thrashes about with unpredictable dynamic changes, unruly string scratches, and aggressive descending lines. The charming finale serves as a sort of swan song to the alto clarinet…a final bow showcasing the untapped potential of the instrument.</p>

Fantasia Chalumeau

Alto Clarinet Duet

As a highly coveted global mecca, New York City is home to residents hailing from a multitude of countries and cultural backgrounds…it is a true cosmopolis. When I arrived in the city many years ago, I found myself amongst a chaotic, overgrown, grime-covered Gotham desperately clinging to the deteriorating remnants of its art deco golden years. Although far from the stylized iconography reflected in television and film, I remained steadfast to be a part of it. 

I grew to appreciate the city most after dark when I would unexpectedly find myself as the solitary subject in a real-life Edward Hopper painting. In those brief moments when there’s not another soul in sight, you welcome the loneliness and begin to appreciate the sultry cityscape: the desolate, jet black streets spotted with puddles reflecting the moonlight and streetlamps; subway trains clanking and screeching over the bridges; the hum of the city penetrating the brisk sea air; the refurbished piers suppressing a devious sexuality reminiscent of a bygone era. As you gaze at the illuminated skyline from afar, a serenity overcomes you. For those of us unable to partake in the decadent luxuries the city has to offer, these genuine moments of reflection and tranquility validate our everyday struggle to survive the city.

People around the world may think of Sinatra, Copland, Gershwin, Bernstein, and classic Broadway musicals as embodying the definitive New York sound. But to those who currently live and work here, the sounds literally and figuratively exuded from the city vary drastically from this polished soundtrack of yesteryear. Cosmópolis is a contemporary portrayal of New York City through my eyes and ears, as a transplant who grew up idolizing the romanticized versions of the city found in art, music, television, and film. Tinged with influences of Cab Calloway, Miles Davis, and Duke Ellington, this duet for clarinet and percussion evokes the provocative mise-en-scène of New York City after dark while paying homage to the musical styles that define its iconic identity.

Cosmopolis

Mixed Duet

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In Edmund White's 1973 novel Forgetting Elena, an unnamed amnesiac narrator finds himself residing with a group of male lodgers on a mysterious island. By meticulously observing their interactions and etiquette, he attempts to uncover his identity, social status, and the group's expectations of him. 
 
One morning, Herbert, the group's presumed leader, spontaneously assigns him the Sisyphean task of raking pine needles from a steep hill which descends to the beach. As he labors in exile, his thoughts wander frantically, contemplating if this is a burden previously agreed upon or a punishment intended to ostracize. He overhears beachgoers talking and laughing beyond the dunes (possibly at him) and struggles to suppress the shame of potentially being seen toiling in solitude. He deliberates expeditious methods of completing this futile exercise in a hopeless effort to escape banishment and rejoin his peers. 

White's vivid description of being made a pariah for reasons never fully understood serves as the inspiration of the emotional tapestry conveyed in El otono sin fin. The music manifests the beachside setting of the novel and evokes the narrator's alienation: the ebb and flow of the tide, the prickly pine needles, the antagonist's watchful eye, and the narrator's string of unanswered questions and anxious head-bobbing. The pensive quartal harmonies of the piano's two-chord riff produce an earthy, primordial ambience while the undulating bass line begins to regulate the listeners' breathing. Alternating waves of sinister and optimistic resolutions add an element of instability that reflects the narrator's manic string of consciousness interpolated with his attempts to placate his fear of being forgotten. 

In the final bars of the piece, the bass clarinet timidly asks one final questionor, is it perhaps the answer the narrator has been desperately seeking?

El otono sin fin

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Un caballo en el castillo de cristal was composed while living abroad in Valencia, Spain during the height of the pandemic. Many early mornings were spent reflecting at the foot of the neo-futuristic Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias, which emerges from a sunken park situated in a former riverbed. The stunted and sporadic introduction of Un caballo was directly inspired by the deafening silence of the winding corridors beneath the arts complex, which once housed a river that devastated the city.

Originally conceived as a work for bassoon, contrabassoon, and piano, the work eventually expanded to include full orchestra over the course of its development. It portrays the pent-up creativity suppressed over the course of one's life, occasionally escaping in bursts of joy, frustration, and eccentric self-expression. Elements of contemporary orchestral music and mid-century film scores are fused to create a haunting portrait of an unwonted individual seeking a creative outlet in a world of conformity. Throughout the piece, resonance and natural hall reverberations are used to complete chords and establish tonalities, which provides a sense of momentum and anticipation during slower sections. After a thunderous finale, the piece gradually descends back down the dark corridors, consumed again by the inescapable silence.

Un caballo en el castillo de cristal

After several days of heavy rainfall in 1957, Spain's Turia River unleashed 300 million cubic meters of water into the city of Valencia. The flood devastated the city, destroyed thousands of homes, and took many lives. Four years later, the Spanish government unanimously approved a monumental plan to reroute the Turia River out of the city and transform the riverbed into an urban green space. Today, the Jardin de Turia, is a magnificent sunken public park spanning 8.5 kilometers. From the orange and palm tree lined pathways, to the surreal Parc Gulliver, and neo-futuristic Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias, a concerted effort has been made to give the space a new identity.
 
However, as you traverse the city on foot through the Turia, the spirit of the exiled waters is ever-present like a phantom limb. A pervasive apprehension that your presence is unwelcome slices through the park's beauty as if impending doom is looming around the bend. An errant puddle or pooling of rainwater prompts park goers to question if the waters are eager to return. Turia (Agua salvaje) draws inspiration from suspenseful film scores of the late 1950s and 60s to bring the treacherous floodwaters to the listener. The unrelenting churning of the violas and stampeding cellos and basses keep the audience on edge as the violins soar overhead in the glassy upper register. Each section of the orchestra showcases its agility by aggressively trading ascending and descending runs in rapid succession, reflecting the turbulent waters cascading over the centuries-old cobblestone streets. As quickly as Turia (Agaua salvaje) escalates tension and angst, the piece concludes with a sudden and climactic finish, leaving the listener weary that the threat has truly subsided.

Turia (Agua salvaje)

<p>"Almas robadas" is an elegy honoring the young, innocent lives ended prematurely by unjust violence and war. The two flugelhorns paint a mellow, jazz-tinged palette while the tuba showcases its lyrical upper register. From the menacing opening to the contemplative outro, Gallegos demonstrates his idiomatic understanding and expertise as a brass arranger. For trumpet/flugelhorn, flugelhorn, horn in F, trombone, and tuba.</p>

Almas robadas

Brass Quintet

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