Hullabaloo, Op. 16 for Violin, Clarinet, Trumpet, and Piano

Hullabaloo is an upbeat, playful work that features various "strains" of jazz that are often mixed or jumbled around, like jambalaya—an appropriate metaphor, considering the origin of jazz in the cultural jumble of New Orleans.

In writing this piece, which would be my first consciously jazz-inspired classical work, I wanted to create something that is firmly in the classical tradition, yet influenced and informed by jazz... but just as importantly, I wanted it to be fun!

This brought up the question: which jazz? Jazz is hardly monolithic. It easily defies clean categorization. It can't really be defined. There is only its history, and various styles associated with it. And at this point, it has traveled the world and brought back souvenirs from all over the globe.

I decided early on I wouldn't limit myself to just one “strain” of jazz. But neither could I possibly incorporate everything. (Only Mahler seemed to have the delusion that you could fit the entire world into one piece!)

But there was also another issue I wrestled with: the tendency of classical musicians and jazz musicians to feel and interpret rhythms differently. Classical musicians usually struggle with swing, while some jazz musicians couldn't play straight if a gun were held to their head! 

I felt some kind of compromise was in order. Fortunately, there seems to be an indirect relationship between the amount of rhythmic swing and the tempo: as the tempo speeds up, the rhythmic swing is less pronounced. So an uptempo “cut time” seemed to be the most appropriate solution: fast enough that it could “swing” without necessarily swinging!

That made it very appropriate for early jazz styles such as ragtime and dixieland, and even Latin styles such as samba and bossa nova. The harmonic approach for the more raucous "Dixielandish" sections was bitonal/polychordal. (Can it really be jazz if it doesn't sound like there are "wrong" notes?) The overall result is something that harkens back to the early days of jazz exploration in classical music, rather than to the later "Third Stream." More Milhaud and less Schuller. I always felt the rhythms of jazz, more so than its harmony, was its most interesting contribution to music. 

Listen to the diversity of sounds and textures and enjoy the rhythmic drive of Hullabaloo. A work of musical art can certainly be both serious and full of joy and humor at the same time. I hope you enjoy it.

*Audio features Kevin Finamore, Trumpet; Lydia Umlauf, Violin; Brent Buemi, Clarinet; and Davide Cava, Piano.