Dreams in the Dusk

From Wind Repertory Project
David Biedenbender

David Biedenbender


Subtitle: Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Wind Ensemble


General Info

Year: 2012
Duration: c. 12:50
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Bent Space Music
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $200.00


Instrumentation

Full Score
Solo E-flat Alto Saxophone
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
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
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II
Bass Trombone
Euphonium I-II
Tuba I-II
String Bass
Piano
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV, including:

  • Bass Drum
  • Crotales
  • Marimba
  • Snare Drum
  • Suspended Cymbal
  • Tam-Tam
  • Triangle
  • Vibraphone
  • Wind Chimes
  • Xylophone


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

The initial inspiration for Dreams in the Dusk came while walking on my father-in-law’s farm on a cold, snowy evening. Situated in rural Michigan, miles from the nearest city on the flattest land I have ever seen, I came the closest I have ever been to feeling real silence. The silence, stillness, and peace that I found in the fleeting moments of daylight while walking in the crisp, fresh snow was one of the ways that I dealt with the passing of my sister-in-law, Julia Hope Voelker, a mere 23 years old, who lost her battle with cancer in January of 2013. Those walks at dusk became a kind of ritual for me during the last few weeks of her life, as our family had gathered together to be with her as she lived out her final days in her childhood home.

Searching for a voice for the many emotions I was feeling, I turned to one of my favorite poems, Dreams in the Dusk by the American poet Carl Sandburg. For me, this poem captured the essence of that sacred time at the waning of the day in a way that was beautiful and profound.

Dreams in the Dusk

By Carl Sandburg

Dreams in the dusk,
Only dreams closing the day
And with the day’s close going back
To the gray things, the dark things,
The far, deep things of dreamland.

Dreams, only dreams in the dusk,
Only the old remembered pictures
Of lost days when the day’s loss
Wrote in tears the heart’s loss.

Tears and loss and broken dreams
May find your heart at dusk.

There are two primary musical gestures that most often occupy the musical foreground of the piece, including a moaning, groaning, or wailing, which is usually manifest in the form of long, slow portamenti between notes in various melodic structures, and sharp, quick crescendi, which are usually orchestrated into either spacious chords or tight harmonic clusters. The melodic groans are a kind of musical mourning, analogues of sung or spoken lamentations. The quick crescendi are used in a variety of contexts in Dreams in the Dusk, but, for me, they represent the musical icon of reverse tape playback effects, which are nearly ubiquitous in popular and electronic music. More important than a genre or technique reference, they take on a specific personal significance within the context of this piece, signifying a desire to turn back time, to start again, to change the diagnosis, to return to a time when all was well.

- Program Note by composer


This music is dedicated to Julia Hope Voelker. Dreams in the Dusk was premiered by Jonathan Yanik and the United States Navy Band on January 4, 2013. The piano version of Dreams in the Dusk was premiered by Sean Murphy.

- Program Note from score


Media


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • United States Marine Band (Washington, D.C.) (Jason K. Fettig, conductor; Steven Temme, alto saxophone) - 17 February 2019
  • Truman State University (Kirksville, Mo.) Wind Symphony I (Curran Prendergast, conductor; Xin Gao, alto saxophone) – 15 November 2017
  • University of Arizona (Tucson) Wind Ensemble (Chad R. Nicholson, conductor; Edward Goodman, alto saxophone) – 23 March 2017
  • University of Georgia (Athens) Hodgson Wind Ensemble (Cynthia Johnston-Turner, conductor; Caroline Halleck, alto saxophone) – 20 January 2017
  • University of Massachusetts (Amherst) Wind Ensemble (Matthew Westgate, conductor; Jonathan Hulting-Cohen, alto saxophone) – 10 March 2016 (CBDNA 2016 Eastern Division Conference, New London, Conn.)


Works for Winds by This Composer


Resources