Double Chorus
Robert Beaser (trans. Jared Staub)
General Info
Year: 1991 / 2018
Duration: c. 10:55
Difficulty: VII (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Orchestra
Publisher: Schott Publishing
Cost: Score and Parts - In publication
Instrumentation
Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
English Horn
Bassoon I-II
Contrabassoon
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
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-IV
E-flat Horn or Alto I-II-III-IV
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II
Bass Trombone
Euphonium I-II
Tuba I-II
String Bass I-II
Piano
Harp
Timpani
Percussion I-VI, including:
- Bass Drum
- Bongos (2)
- Chimes
- Conga
- Crash Cymbals
- Crotales
- Field Drum
- Frusta
- Glockenspiel (2)
- Gourd Guiro
- Marimba
- Mexican Bean
- Snare Drum
- Suspended Cymbal
- Tambourine
- Tam-Tam, medium and low
- Temple Blocks
- Tenor Drum
- Tom-Tom (4), high, medium and low
- Triangle
- Vibraphone
- Wood Block
- Xylophone
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
The orchestral version of Double Chorus was commissioned for the centennial of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
- Program Note from publisher
About Double Chorus, Beaser writes:
The title is a play on words. It literally means ‘two choruses in alternation,’ from the Venetian School circa 1550, but in this case there is no chorus, nor is the orchestra divided into antiphonal choirs. Instead of attempting to mimic the polychoral style of Gabrieli, I am concerned with the juxtaposition of ‘psychological’ opposites. The central argument of Double Chorus is achieved through the alternation of a chorale with its ‘opposite,’ as in Heine’s famous poem Der Doppelgänger, where the image of the moon, as a pale imitation of the protagonist’s face, stalks him incessantly as his ‘shadow double.’
- Program Note from Michigan State University concert program, 25 October 2018
Media
(Needed - please join the WRP if you can help.)
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Michigan State University (East Lansing) Wind Symphony (Kevin Sedatole, conductor) – 25 October 2018 *Premiere Performance*
Works for Winds by This Composer
- Double Chorus (tr. Jared Staub) (1991/ )
- End of Knowing, The (2014)
- Manhattan Roll (1998/2010)
Resources
- Jared Staub, personal correspondence, December 2018