Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Wind Ensemble (Maslanka)

From Wind Repertory Project
David Maslanka

David Maslanka


General Info

Year: 1999
Duration: 42:00
Difficulty: VII (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Carl Fischer
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $150.00   |   Score Only (print)


Movements

1. Song: "Fire in the Earth" - 8:30
2. Interlude: “Bright Window, Your Night Is Full of Stars”
3. Song: “Dear Jesus, what have you DONE?!”
4. IV. Interlude: “Starry Night”
5. Song: “Mortal, have you seen this?”


Instrumentation

Full Score
Solo Alto Saxophone
Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II (II doubles English horn)
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Contra-Alto Clarinet
Bassoon I-II (II doubles contrabassoon)
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trumpet (in C) I-II (II doubles piccolo trumpet)
Trombone I-II
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
Piano/Celeste
String Bass
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV, including:

  • Bass Drum
  • Bell Plates
  • Bell Tree
  • Bongos
  • Castanets
  • Claves
  • Crotales
  • Cymbals (small, medium, and large suspended)
  • Glockenspiel
  • Gongs (small, medium, and medium-large)
  • Hi-hat
  • Marimba
  • Pedal Bass Drum
  • Rain Tree
  • Shaker (very small)
  • Sleigh Bells
  • Snare Drum
  • Tam Tam
  • Temple Blocks
  • Tenor Drum
  • Triangles (small and large)
  • Tuned Gong (G4)
  • Vibraphone
  • Wood Blocks
  • Xylophone


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

This concerto turned out to be a good deal larger than I would reasonably want. As I got into the composing, the ideas became insistent: none of them would be left out! The format of songs and interludes arises from my other recent works for saxophones (Mountain Roads for saxophone quartet and Song Book for alto saxophone and marimba), and suggests a music that is more intimate than symphonic. There is a strong spiritual overtone with quotes from Bach chorales, and from my own works Hell’s Gate and Mass. A story is hinted at which has the Crucifixion right smack in the middle -- the climax of the third movement quotes the “Crucifixus” from the Mass. I don’t know what the story is, only that it wants to be music and not words.

I. Song: “Fire in the Earth”

Walking through a Montana field on a brilliant late fall day, three images came in rapid succession: a distant row of red plant stems caught by the morning sun, snow on the surrounding high mountains, green grass at my feet. The following poetic image came:

Fire in the earth
Snow in the heavens
New green grass in the middle of November

This is a quiet, emotional music – sometimes not so quiet – contained by a very simple song form.

II. Interlude: “Bright Window, Your Night Is Full of Stars”

Bright Window is the soprano song right before the Credo in my Mass. I have transcribed it whole as a beautiful song for the solo saxophone. The words of the original song reach out in prayer to the Holy Mother and ask for a personal connection with all that is. This music is dedicated to the memory of Joseph Christensen, Director of Bands at Iowa State University, whose untimely death was a shock to his many friends.

III. Song: “Dear Jesus, what have you DONE?!”

This music grows out of the chorale Herzliebste Jesu, was hast du verbrocken (Dearest Jesus, what law did you break). The chorale is the starting point for a huge upsurge of powerful emotion, cresting with the climax of the “Crucifixus” from the Mass. Dear Jesus, what have you done to get yourself crucified? ... And then you drag the rest of us up there with you!!

IV. Interlude: “Starry Night”

Starry Night is not a quiet night! There is both mystery and playfulness in this music, and playfulness finally wins out, erupting into an extended dance episode with a very Baroque feel. Of all the movements, this one is most nearly a scherzo.

V. Song: “Mortal, have you seen this?”

In the Book of Ezekiel, the prophet has a vision of a man “whose appearance shone like bronze.” The “Bronze Man” shows him the Holy City. He then leads him into a deep and very wide river that cannot be crossed, and says “Mortal, have you seen this?” Where the river enters the sea the water becomes fresh; everything will live where the river goes; trees along the river will not wither, their fruit will be for food, their leaves for healing.

This movement is an echo of the third. It opens and closes with what has been called the “coronation” music from my composition Hell’s Gate – in this case played very softly and inwardly.

- Program Note by David Maslanka


Media


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • Western Washington University (Bellingham) Wind Symphony (Christopher Bianco, conductor; Jordan Marbach, alto saxophone) - 18 November 2021
  • Sonoma State University (Rohnert Park, Calif.) Wind Ensemble (Andy Collinsworth, conductor; Otis Murphy, alto saxophone) – 13 March 2020
  • United States Navy Band (Washington, D.C.) (Kenneth Collins, conductor; Otis Murphy, alto saxophone) – 10 January 2020 (Fairfax, Va.)
  • Georgia State University (Atlanta) Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Robert J. Ambrose, conductor; Joseph Lyons, alto saxophone) – 24 October 2019
  • Medalist Concert Band (Bloomington, Minn.) (Jerry Luckhardt, conductor; Adam Pazandak, alto saxophone) – 19 May 2019
  • University of California, Los Angeles, (UCLA) Wind Ensemble (Shaun Evans, conductor; Matthew Lombard, alto saxophone) – 12 March 2019
  • State University of New York, Potsdam, Crane Wind Ensemble (Brian K. Doyle, conductor; Eric Villalta, alto saxophone) – 21 September 2018
  • Texas A&M University (College Station) Wind Symphony (Timothy Rhea, conductor) - 12 February 2015 (2015 TMEA Conference, San Antonio)


Works for Winds by This Composer


Resources

  • David Maslanka website
  • Murphy, Otis. A Performer’s Guide to David Maslanka’s Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Wind Ensemble. 2006. Indiana University. DMA dissertation.