Please DONATE to help with maintenance and upkeep of the Wind Repertory Project!

Bright Spirit

From Wind Repertory Project
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Judith Bingham

Judith Bingham


This article is a stub. If you can help add information to it,
please join the WRP and visit the FAQ (left sidebar) for information.


General Info

Year: 2002
Duration: c. 6:30
Difficulty: III (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Maecenas Music
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - £50.95   |   Score Only (print) - £14.95


Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
Contrabassoon
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
C Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II
Bass Trombone
Tuba
Percussion I-II

(percussion detail desired)


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

Bright Spirit, based on a poem of the same name by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822), was dedicated to Timothy and Hilary Reynish in memory of their son Will, who died in a climbing accident in 2001, at the age of 32. The poem is a brief elegy for Shelley's son, also named William, who died in childhood.

Bingham's seven-minute meditation on a parent¹s loss of a child is a wordless reflection of the sentiments of anguished grief expressed in the poem.

Bright Spirit

My lost son William, thou in whom
 Some bright spirit lived, and did
That decaying robe consume
Which its lustre faintly hid,
Here its ashes find a tomb.
But beneath this pyramid
Thou are not ­ if a thing divine
Like thee can die, thy funeral shrine
Is thy mother¹s grief and mine.

Where art thou gentle child?
 Let me think thy spirit feeds,
 Within its life intense and mild,
 The love of living leaves and weeds,
 Among these ruins cold and wild;
 Let me think that through low seeds
 Of the sweet flowers and sunny grass,
 Into their hues and scents may pass
 A portion -

Bright Spirit was commissioned by Timothy Reynish with financial assistance from Baylor University, Texas, USA, and BASBWE. It is dedicated "To Tim and Hilary Reynish in memory of their son Will who died in a climbing accident in 2001" and was first performed by Baylor University Wind Ensemble, conducted by Timothy Reynish, in Jones Concert Hall, Waco, Texas, USA, on 5 February 2002.

- Program Note by World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE)


The shape of the piece follows loosely the shape of the poem. It begins with a slow funeral march, which eventually gives way to a more dogged march, building to a massive climax. The message is that the bereaved have to come through grief and continue onwards. The four-note twisting phrase is the word “Will” in musical terms. The work was written in the aftermath of 9/11, so composer Bingham felt it was curiously apt to write a memorial piece at that time.

- Program Note from Baylor University Symphonic Band concert program, 22 March 2021


Awards


Media


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • National Children's Concert Band (Birmingham, UK) (Sarah Hind, conductor) – 8 April 2023
  • Illinois State University (Normal) Wind Symphony (Anthony C. Marinello II, conductor) - 24 April 2021
  • Baylor University (Waco, Tx.) Symphonic Band (Isaiah Odajima, conductor) - 22 March 2021
  • Bloomsbury Woodwind Ensemble (Shea Lolin, conductor) – 2013
  • Baylor University (Waco, Tx.) Wind Ensemble (Timothy Reynish, conductor) - 5 February 2002 *Premiere Performance*


Works for Winds by This Composer


Resources

Retrieved from "https://www.windrep.org/index.php?title=Bright_Spirit&oldid=414615"