Breathe (Shapiro)
Subtitle: For Wind Band and Pre-Recorded Soundscape
General Info
Year: 2020
Duration: c. 10:00
Difficulty: IV+ (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Activist Music, through Hal Leonard
Cost: Score and Parts (print or digital) $260.00
Instrumentation
Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II
Horn in F I-II-III
Trombone I-II
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Piano
Percussion, including:
- Bass Drum
- Chimes
- Crash Cymbals
- Crotales
- Glockenspiel
- Marimba
- Snare Drum
- Vibraphone
Audio tracks
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
Much of the year 2020 is epitomized by the concept of being deprived of breath. From the lung-destroying effects of COVID-19, to the murderous strangulations of police brutality. From the searing, choking walls of wildfire smoke, to the smothering evil of politicians attempting to asphyxiate democracy. It was tempting to title this piece, 2020. But the pandemic, the systemic racism, the climate changes and the abuses of power that churned malevolently as I composed this music, while heightened by a collective awareness, are not new.
As quarantine has led millions of people to repeat the same day over and over, a simple theme of twelve notes repeats nine times, painfully slowly, always in the same order. A piano, rather than a wind instrument from which a deadly virus might be spread, offers up one pensive note at a time, paired with an atmospheric soundscape. As people attempt to stay connected to others through the internet, the combination of isolation and technology are a familiar theme. The static bleakness begins in grayness, becoming only more grim as time passes. Three quarters through, the orchestration begins to fill with sounds made from humans, not computers. The electronic track stops. The technology stops. All we hear are live musicians as the conductor, formerly tethered to unrelenting demands of a metronomic click track, becomes free to allow the ensemble breathe freely. Phrases climb upward from uncertainty, but of course there is no resolution. There can never be a resolution, because humans are not capable of such. But there can be hope, and breath.
- Program Note by composer
Media
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Elon (N.C.) University Wind Ensemble (Jonathan Poquette, conductor) - 14 November 2023
- Pacific Lutheran University (Tacoma, Wash.) Wind Ensemble (Edwin Powell, conductor) – 18 March 2022 (CBDNA 2022 Western/Northwestern Conference, Tacoma, Wash.)
- Indiana University (Bloomington) Symphonic Band (Eric Smedley, conductor) - 31 October 2021
- Shenandoah Conservatory (Winchester, Va.) Wind Ensemble (Timothy J. Roblee, conductor) - 25 September 2021
- Colorado Mesa University (Grand Junction) Wind Symphony (Calvin Hofer, conductor) - 27 April 2021 *Premiere Performance*
Works for Winds by This Composer
Adaptable Music
- Count to Ten (Adaptable Band) (2021)
- Kitchen Sync (Adaptable Band) (2021)
- Kitchen Sync. See also: Suite Treats
- Passages (Adaptable Band) (2020)
All Wind Works
- Ascent (2020)
- Beneath. See: Immersion (2010)
- Bioplasm (flute choir) (2004/2012)
- Bioplasm (flute quartet) (2004)
- Breathe (2020)
- Count to Ten (Adaptable Band) (2021)
- Depth. See: Immersion
- Even Deeper (2014)
- Free (2022)
- Homecoming (2008)
- Immersion (2010)
- Kitchen Sync (Adaptable Band) (2021)
- Kitchen Sync. See also: Suite Treats
- Lights Out (2015)
- Liquid Compass (2014)
- Moment (2016)
- Off the Edge (2019)
- Paper Cut (2010)
- Passages (Adaptable Band) (2020)
- Pop Music (2022)
- Rock Music (2016)
- Surface. See: Immersion (2010)
- Suspended (2021)
- Tight Squeeze (2012)
- Train of Thought (sextet) (2015)
- Trains of Thought (concert band) (2015/2017)
Resources
- Alex Shapiro website Accessed 26 April 2021
- Perusal score