Crescent Still Abides, A

From Wind Repertory Project
David Gillingham

David Gillingham


Subtitle: Adagio for Winds and Percussion


General Info

Year: 1998
Duration: c. 11:00
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: C. Alan Publications
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $128.00; (digital) - $128.00   |   Score Only (print) - $40.00


Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II (II doubling English Horn)
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Saxophone
E-flat Alto Saxophone
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
Euphonium
Tuba
Piano
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV-V, including:

  • Bass Drums (2)
  • Bells
  • Brake Drums (5)
  • Chimes
  • Crotales
  • Marimba
  • Suspended Cymbal (large)
  • Tam-tam (large)
  • Vibraphone
  • Xylophone


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

Each that we lose takes part of us;
A crescent still abides,
Which like the moon, some turbid night,
Is summoned by the tides.
from Bulletins from Immortality
- Emily Dickinson

Between August 31 and September 8, 1997, the world lost three most precious human beings: Princess Diana, Georg Solti and Mother Teresa. A Crescent Still Abides seeks to express both the sadness of this loss and the hope and joy that all three brought into this world. The "adagio theme" of sadness is first heard in the clarinet choir at measure 13 and alternates through a series of episodes and interlude-like sections, all of which add intensity to a type of mourning. Interspersed are references to all three people -- Princess Diana with a quote of Holst's beautiful melody from Jupiter of The Planets (later to become the hymn, I vow to Thee My Country which is sung at Diana's funeral); Georg Solti with a reference to Siegfried's Funeral March from Wagner's Der Ring der Nibelungen, a tribute to Solti's monumental feat of recording the whole "Ring" cycle; and to Mother Teresa with the chant, Requiem aeternam dona eis Domine from the opening of the Mass for the Dead of the Catholic Church. All the darkness and sadness turns into rays of hopeful light when the "adagio theme" is transformed in the major mode and flows to a joyous resolve and then recedes to a very peaceful conclusion.

- Program Note by composer


Media


State Ratings

  • Tennessee: V


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project


Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music


All Wind Works


Resources

  • David Gillingham website Accessed 4 November 2021
  • Gillingham, D. (1998). A Crescent Still Abides [score]. C. Alan Publications: Greensboro, N.C.