Ashen Skies of a Timeworn World
General Info
Year: 2017
Duration: c. 17:10
Difficulty: VI (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Casey Martin Music
Cost: Score and Parts (digital) - $200.00 | Score Only (digital) - $40.00
Instrumentation
Full Score
ling
Flute I-II-III (all doubling Piccolo)
Oboe I-II
English Horn
Bassoon I-II
Contrabassoon
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III-IV
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Saxophone
E-flat Alto Saxophone
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
C Trumpet I-II-III-IV (I doubling Piccolo Trumpet)
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Bass Trombone
Euphonium I-II
Tuba I-II
String Bass
Piano
Harp
Timpani
Percussion I-VI, including:
- Bass Drum (on and off-stage)
- Bass Drum (chamber)
- Chimes
- China Cymbals
- Crash Cymbals
- Crotales
- Field Drum
- Glockenspiel
- Low Tom
- Marimba
- Metals
- Snare Drum
- Suspended Cymbal
- Tam-Tam
- Tom-Toms (4)
- Vibraphone
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
I've always had this strange fascination with the mortality of the universe. While the earth will likely be absorbed by the expanding red giant that our sun will become in 5 billion years, the end of life is a bit more ambiguous. Assuming humanity, or whatever we might have evolved into, doesn't make it to the death of the sun, we might succumb to celestial events (asteroids, near-earth supernovas, etc.), the increasing luminosity of the sun causing the extinction of plant life, or climate-related events (human-caused or otherwise). Lately, however, it seems increasingly likely to me that humanity will be its own undoing. Technology continues to evolve and allow for increasingly powerful means of mass destruction, while many nations still seem to be at strife internally or with one another.
Ashen Skies of a Timeworn World depicts a dystopian future that has already been ravaged by human conflict. The first part of the piece, titled "Desolation," opens with a solo trumpet introducing the haunting "ashen skies" theme. The music that follows paints a solemn and sorrowful earth on its last legs. All hell breaks loose during the second half of the piece, aptly titled "War Machines." Brass and percussion herald the end time, melting faces with intense and drivingly rhythmic music. A glimmer of humanity's perseverance for survival shines through towards the end, but inevitably the world crumbles with destruction.
- Program Note by composer
Media
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Wichita (Kan.) State University Wind Ensemble (Timothy Shade, conductor) – 1 April 2022 (CBDNA 2022 Southwestern Conference, Waco, Tx.)
- Oregon State University (Corvallis) Wind Ensemble (Chris Chapman, conductor) -17 March 2018 (2018 Sutherland Wind Festival (Fresno, Calif.)
- University of Texas (Austin) Wind Ensemble (Jerry Junkin, conductor) – 30 April 2017 *Premiere Performance*
Works for Winds by This Composer
- The Adventurer's Overture
- Ashen Skies of a Timeworn World (2017)
- The Autonomy of Machines (2016)
- Earth Warder, The (2016)
- Fanfare for the End of the World (2012)
- LA Overture (2016)
- Please of a Dying Star (2013)
- Symphony No. 1 (2015)