Bite the Bullet (Machain)

From Wind Repertory Project
Jorge Machain

Jorge Machain


General Info

Year: 2018 / 2020
Duration: c. 6:10
Difficulty: VI (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes, through Hal Leonard
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $125.00; (digital) - $125.00   |   Score Only (print) - $15.00


Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
English Horn
Bassoon I-II
Contrabassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Contra Alto Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Piano
Celesta
Harp
Timpani
Percussion (7 players), including:

  • Bass Drum
  • Crash Cymbals
  • Glockenspiel
  • Snare Drum
  • Suspended Cymbal
  • Tambourine
  • Tam-Tam
  • Tubular Bells
  • Vibraphone
  • Wind Chimes

Cello


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

Bite the Bullet (2018) was commissioned for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Wind Orchestra by Thomas Leslie, director of bands, and was premiered by that ensemble in Artemus W. Ham Hall on October 4, 2018.

The title comes from a work by the Venetian painter Carlo Marchiori. The painting [Biting the Bullets] depicts two Pulcinelli, Venetian clowns dressed as bakers. In the painting, these Pulcinelli shoot at one another with guns, bullets meeting in the middle, creating a white-orange-pink cloudburst. I was in awe of the vibrant colored landscape and the Pulcinelli, providing the creative impetus for this work. In Bite the Bullet, I portray the intensity of the painting and use my own sonic color scheme through orchestration and instrumental color. You will hear the intensity of the brass and percussion sections portraying the gunshots by the Pulcinelli with the woodwind flourishes emulating the painter's brush strokes.

- Program Note by composer


Awards

  • NBA Revelli Competition, 2018, Finalist


Media


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project


Works for Winds by This Composer


Resources

  • Brock, Danny. "Bite the Bullet." In Teaching Music through Performance in Band. Volume 12, Compiled and edited by Andrew Trachsel, 735-744. Chicago: GIA Publications, 2021.
  • The Horizon Leans Forward…, compiled and edited by Erik Kar Jun Leung, GIA Publications, 2021, p. 404.
  • JM Music website Accessed 6 January 2020
  • Machain, J. (2020). Bite the Bullet [score]. Boosey & Hawkes: New York.
  • Perusal score