Breakthrough
General Info
Year: 1994 / 2000
Duration: c. 6:50
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: C. Alan Publications
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $90.00 | Score Only (print) - $36.00
Instrumentation
Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
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
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III, including:
- Bass Drum
- Bells
- Chimes
- Crash Cymbals
- Finger Cymbals
- Slapstick
- Snare Drum
- Suspended Cymbals (2)
- Tam-Tam
- Temple Blocks
- Triangle
- Tom-Toms (4)
- Vibraslap
- Xylophone
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
The quote "The Iron Curtain was no more, and the reunification of the divided Germany ensued" has provided the inspiration for the sculpture Breakthrough as well as the music composition bearing the same name. Commissioned by the Albemarle County High School Honors Band in Charlottesville, Virginia, Breakthrough was completed in December, 1994, and was premiered in January of 1995.
The sculpture, Breakthrough, by Edwina Sandys (a grandchild of the late Winston Churchill) was created using eight sections of the Berlin Wall. On one side, the Wall is covered with graffiti illustrating the West Germans’ attitude towards the Soviet grip on East Germany. The other side, which faced East Germany, is bare of any graffiti. The sculpture has two abstracted figures of humans cut out of eight sections emphasizing that the wall is no longer a barrier to the people it once separated.
The music composition Breakthrough utilizes brief fragments of the East and West German national anthems for much of the work's nucleus. Also included as a motive for the work is the opening nine notes of the "Joyful, Joyful" theme from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, which has particular significance in Germany's celebration of the reunification. The twelve strokes of the clock tower heard midway through the work signify the stroke of midnight on November 9, 1989, the night the Wall would come down and the peoples of Germany reunified.
- Program Note by composer
Commissioned by the Eighth Annual Albemarle County High School Honors Band, Charlottesville, Virginia, January 13 and 14, 1995.
- Program Note from score
Media
State Ratings
- Tennessee: V
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- University of Nevada Reno Wind Ensemble (A G McGrannahan III, conductor) – 16 March 2006 (CBDNA 2006 Western/Northwestern Division Conference, Reno, Nev.)
Works for Winds by this Composer
- Amazing Grace (as arranger) (1779/2014)
- American Band Salute (2009?)
- and make a joyous sound
- Breakthrough (1994/2000)
- Bugs (2000)
- Colours (1997)
- Divertimento for Winds and Percussion (1994)
- El Caballero (2000)
- Emblazoned Joy (2019/2021)
- Fanfare for a Festive Day (1996)
- Festival!
- First Flights
- Flowing Pens from Concord (2013)
- For Purple Mountain Majesties (2005)
- Galilean Moons (1996)
- Geometric Dances (2007)
- God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen (as arranger) (2022)
- The Golden Baton March
- Hats Off (2016)
- In Exuberant Celebration (2009)
- Interpretations
- Maestro
- New Millennium, Different World, New Beginnings (2004)
- Pandemonium (2006)
- Quartets (2006/2012)
- Rachmaninoff Prelude (as arranger)
- Silhouette
- Sounds, Sketches, and Ideas (2002)
- T. Rex
- We Walked with Heads Held High (2006)
- Windsicle (2006)
- Wisconsin Soundscapes
- Wizards
Resources
- Perusal score
- Roger Cichy website Accessed 22 October 2016