Polychrome (Tim Sullivan)

Polychrome literally means “being of many or various colors” – in this work, I wanted to explore this idea in a dramatic context. The “colors” of the work are bold and bright, and often come together in explosive combinations. In a formal sense, I fashioned the work out of shifting blocks of music. The first half of Polychrome features the alternation of two contrasting colors: the first is dazzling and bright, while the second is coarse and dark. With each return, the “color” of the music is shaded differently, like it is being viewed through a prism. After one final flash of brilliance, a shrieking chord in the woodwinds and strings signifies the beginning of the second half of the work. There are two “primary” colors in this section as well: bold, dramatic chords, which gradually migrate from the woodwinds to the whole orchestra; and a softer hue introduced by the lyrical oboe solo and hushed string chords. Gradually, these colors are brought together, and the climax of the work occurs where the roles become reversed – the music of the oboe solo is exploded into cacophonous bursts of woodwinds and strings, and the whole orchestra collapses onto a single note. After these incredibly violent collisions, the music fades away into slow, sustained echoes of earlier sounds.