Hexagons is a fixation: six players, six pieces, six sections each. In duration, however, the numerical obsession ends; ranging from one to three minutes, the pieces total approximately 14 minutes.

Toward achieving unity and coherence among these disparate parts, the pieces share an ever-transforming cantus firmus as well as thematic and motivic elements. And like a hexagon, the work is symmetrical: movements I and VI share a driving rhythm; II and V display rhythmic fluidity, the former with a series of ritardandi, and the latter with a constant accelerando; and the central two movements share an especially lyrical quality. Register is also a unifying element, since the work makes two upward-moving arches that cross the six pieces.

While the pieces are clearly interrelated, each strongly projects its own character and is dominated by a solo instrument or subgroup of the sextet: movement I is a rough moto perpetuo for bassoon and piano; II plays off intricate flute and clarinet figuration against dramatic piano gestures; in III, a lyric oboe solo alternates with increasingly dissonant versions of a chorale; IV is a darkly-colored duet for horn and bassoon; V is all kaleidoscopic display for clarinet; and VI is a fierce tutti dominated by high flute.

Hexagons was written for Hexagon and was funded in part through a Guggenheim Foundation fellowship.

-- R.C

Hexagons, written for piano and wind quintet in 1994 [is] structured in six brief movements, with each having its own orchestration and affect. Caltabiano succeeds in making fully chromatic music express not only the usual expressionist angst but serenity and good humor as well.

-- Fanfare