As Summer Was Just Beginning

From Wind Repertory Project
Larry Daehn

Larry Daehn


Subtitle: Song for James Dean


General Info

Year: 1994
Duration: c. 4:55
Difficulty: III (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Daehn Publications
Cost: Score and Parts - $60.00   |   Score Only - $5.00


Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute
Oboe
Bassoon
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Clarinet I-II-III
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Cornet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Timpani
Percussion, including:

  • Bells
  • Suspended Cymbal
  • Vibraphone


Errata

In Score:

  • Piccolo, m.16, beat 4: Should be +Picc.
  • Piccolo, m. m.66, beat 3: Remove -Picc. (Mistake in printing, piccolo should stop playing in m.68, at the caesura.)
  • Flute (and Piccolo), m.16, beat 4: -Picc. should be +Picc.


Program Notes

I liken him to a kind of star, or a comet that fell through the sky, and everybody talks about it yet today. - Julie Harris

He seems to capture that moment of youth ... where we're all desperately seeking to find ourselves. - Dennis Hopper

He is not our hero because he was perfect, but because he perfectly represented the damaged but beautiful soul of our time. - Andy Warhol

James Byron Dean (1931-1955) experienced the brightest and briefest movie career ever. In 16 months he made three movies: East of Eden, Rebel Without a Cause, and Giant. Only the first had been released when he was killed in a car accident at age 24. His death on September 30, 1955, sparked an unparalleled outpouring of sorrow. For three years after his death, Warner Brothers received more letters to him than to any living actor. And the James Dean phenomenon has never really ended. Thousands still come to the little town of Fairmount, Indiana, to see the farm where he grew up and to visit his grave there. His familiar image appears worldwide on posters and T-shirts. He has been the subject of many books, songs, TV documentaries, plays, movies, and hundreds of magazine articles. Forty years after his death, James Dean is still a hero to his own generation and to succeeding generations who keep his legend alive.

People were robbed of him. Whenever you're robbed of something, it lingers with you. - Martin Landau

A bronze bust of James Dean by artist Kenneth Kendall stands near Griffith Park Observatory in Los Angeles, California. There is a Greek inscription on the right shoulder which, when translated reads, "As Summer Was Just Beginning." This sentiment, from a painting by John La Farge, is a Greek epitaph concerning the death of a young person. I chose it as the title for this piece.

I loosely based the main melody (heard at the beginning and at measures 33 and 57) on an old British Isles folksong, "The Winter it is past, and the Summer's here at last." I chose it because Dean's Quaker heritage goes back to England, Ireland and Scotland, and because this simple bittersweet song about summer seemed appropriate for remembering James Dean.

- Program Note by composer


Media


State Ratings

  • Alabama: Class CC
  • California: III Class C
  • Florida: III
  • Georgia: III
  • Indiana: ISSMA SENIOR BAND GROUP II; JUNIOR GROUP II
  • Louisiana: III
  • Michigan: B
  • North Carolina: III
  • Oklahoma: II-A
  • South Carolina: IV
  • Texas: III. Complete
  • Virginia: IV


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • University of Portland (Ore.) Wind Symphony (Patrick Murphy, conductor) - 8 October 2023
  • Toronto (Ont., Can.) Youth Symphonic Winds (Stuart Siu, conductor) - 26 February 2023
  • University of Central Arkansas (Conway) Symphonic Band, (Brett Kelley, conductor) – 1 December 2022
  • Banda Sinfónica Juvenil Suena Santander (Bucaramanga, Colombia) (Rubén Darío Gómez, conductor) - 15 May 2022
  • University of South Dakota (Brookings) Concert Band (Kevin Kessler, conductor) - 22 April 2022
  • University of Southern Mississippi (Hattiesburg) Concert Band C (Lindsay Sandberg, conductor) - 19 April 2021
  • Benedictine College (Atchison, Kan.) Symphonic Band (Jennifer Whyte, conductor) - 20 March 2021
  • Wayne (Neb.) State College Symphonic Band (Wynter Fulsaas, conductor) - 17 November 2020
  • Ball State University (Muncie, Ind.) Campus Band (Adam Friedrich, conductor) – 26 February 2020
  • University of California, Los Angeles, Symphonic Band (Travis J. Cross, conductor) – 6 December 2019
  • Central Michigan University (Mount Pleasant) University Band (Chris Chapman, conductor) – 3 December 2019
  • University of Oregon (Eugene) Campus Band (Derek White, conductor) – 20 November 2019
  • Nazareth College (Rochester, N.Y.) Wind Symphony (Jared Chase, conductor) – 13 September 2019
  • University of Minnesota (Minneapolis) Maroon Campus Band (David Carrillo, conductor) – 2 May 2019
  • University of South Florida (Tampa) Campus Band (McKenna Sawyer, conductor) – 17 April 2019
  • Kennesaw (Ga.) State University University Band (Debra Traficante, conductor) – 12 December 2018
  • Gold Coast Wind Ensemble (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) (Michael Doty, conductor) – 21 October 2018
  • Western Illinois University (Macomb) University Band (Rebekah Eden, conductor) – 2 May 2018
  • Temple University (Philadelphia, Penn.) Symphonic Band (Matthew Brunner, conductor) – 29 April 2019


Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music


All Wind Works


Resources

  • Daehn, Larry D. (1994). As summer was Just Beginning (a Song for James Dean) [score]. Daehn Publications: New Glarus, Wisc.
  • Miles, Richard B., and Larry Blocher. (2010). Teaching Music through Performance in Band. Volume 1. Chicago: GIA Publications. pp. 249-260.
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