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Song Book
Contents |
General Info
Year:2001
Duration: c. 45:00
Difficulty: VII (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Carl Fischer
Cost: Score and Parts - Unknown | Score Only - Unknown
Instrumentation
Flute, Solo-I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
A Clarinet I-II
Bb Bass Clarinet
Contrabass Clarinet
Alto Saxophone
Tenor Saxophone
Trumpet (in C) I-II
Horn in F I-II
Trombone
Bass Trombone
Timpani
Percussion, including:
- Anvil
- Bass Drum
- Bell Tree
- Bongos
- Brake Drum
- Cabasa
- Claves
- Conga Drum
- Crash Cymbals
- Crotales
- Egg Shaker
- High Hat Cymbal
- Maraca
- Marimba
- Metal Wind Chimes
- Orchestra Bells
- Sleigh bells
- Snare Drum
- Suspended Cymbal, large and small
- Tam-Tam
- Temple Blocks
- Vibraphone
- Vibraslap
- Woodblock, small
Piano
Harp
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
Song Book is a set of pieces that are songlike – that is, intimate and expressive, though not necessarily quiet. The solo flute feels like a voice to me, one which has a complex story to tell, in the form of musical dreams.
The 371 Four-Part Chorales by J.S. Bach have been a long-time focus for my study and meditation. These chorales are the models for melodic and harmonic movement used by every beginning music theory student. I had my first encounter with them as a college freshman in 1961. Ten years ago I returned to singing and playing them as a daily warm-up for my composing. In that time I have come to experience the chorales as touchstones for dream space. I have used many of them as jumping-off points for my own compositions. The feeling is one of opening an unmarked door and being suddenly thrust into a different world. The chorales are the doors.
I have used three chorale melodies in Song Book. The first movement, A Song of Coming Awake, is based on Christ ist Erstanden (Christ is Risen); the third, In Loving Memory, on Von gott will Ich nicht lassen (I never wish to part from God); the fifth A Song for the End of Time, on O Gott, du frommer Gott (O Good and Gentle God).
The title of the second movement, Solvitur Ambulando, is Latin for “it is solved by walking.” There is a centuries-old tradition that good ideas come while walking. It is a practice that I have used in my creative work for years. Intuition and intellect are engaged together by the alternating motion of the limbs. The Danish philosopher Kierkegaard wrote: “Above all, do not lose your desire to walk: every day I walk myself into a state of well-being; I have walked myself into my best thoughts…If one just keeps on walking, everything will be all right.”
In the Crucible of Your Pain is a title that appeared in my mind as I was writing the fourth movement. I couldn’t explain it very well at the time of writing. Turmoil can be personal, but it can also come from the outside world. I am guessing in hindsight that this movement touches on the events of 9/11. The music embodies a deep sense of struggle and of unresolved pain.
The composition of Song Book was supported by a consortium of universities headed by Larry Gookin, Director of Bands, and Hal Ott, Professor of Flute at Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA.
Commercial Discography
None discovered thus far.
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Recent Performances
- Florida International University Wind Ensemble (Catherine Rand, conductor) - February 6, 2010
Additional Works for Winds by this Composer
- Child's Garden of Dreams, A (1981)
- Concerto for Alto Saxophone (2000)
- Concerto for Marimba (1990)
- Concerto for Piano, Winds, and Percussion (1979)
- Concerto for Trombone and Wind Ensemble(2007)
- Four Pieces for Band (1980)
- Give Us This Day (Short Symphony) (2005)
- Golden Light (1990)
- Heart Songs (2001)
- Hell's Gate (1997)
- In Memoriam (1990)
- Laudamus Te (1995)
- Mass (1996)
- Montana Music: Chorale Variations (1993)
- Morning Star (1997)
- Mother Earth (2008)
- Prelude on a Gregorian Tune(1981)
- Quintet for Winds Number 2
- Rollo Takes a Walk (1980)
- Sea Dreams for Two Horns and Wind Ensemble (1998)
- Song Book for Flute and Wind Ensemble (2001)
- Symphony No. 2 (1987)
- Symphony No. 3 (1991)
- Symphony No. 4 (1993)
- Symphony No. 5 (2000)
- Symphony No 7 (2004)
- Symphony No. 9 (2011)
- Tears (1994)
- Testament (2001)
- Traveler (2003)
- A Tuning Piece: Songs of Fall and Winter (1995)
- UFO Dreams: Concerto for Euphonium (1999)
- Variants on a Hymn Tune (1995)
Additional Resources
None discovered thus far.
