Music for the Blanton

Music for the Blanton was commissioned to celebrate the opening of the Blanton Museum of Art on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin. It is a work in 18 short movements for ten instruments, and is constructed similarly to Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. Eight of the movements are intended to musically depict specific works of art in the Museum's collection. These eight movements are connected by very brief solos and duos intended to summon the audience from the location of one art work to the next within the Museum, and the entire work is framed by a Prelude and a Postlude.

The duration of the piece is variable. If done in its entirety, the work is approximately 45 minutes long. If only the music composed for the artworks and the Prelude are performed, the duration is about 20 minutes.

The work is ideal for conductors desiring to highlight their wind/ percussion faculty members, or outstanding students, in a featured mid-concert work. The piece may be performed as a straightforward concert piece or can be combined with projections of the artworks the composition was originally commissioned to depict.

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Rental Information

$300 for one performance
$150 for each additional performance