Epic of Gilgamesh, The

From Wind Repertory Project
Robert Rumbelow

Robert Rumbelow


General Info

Year: 1999 / 2004
Duration: c. 20:00
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Neil A. Kjos
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $145.00   |   Score Only (print) - $15.00


Movements

I. Gilgamesh King in Uruk / The Coming of Enkidu – 3:00
2. The Forest Journey – 3:00
3. Ishtar and Gilgamesh, and the Death of Enkidu – 4:10
4. The Search for Everlasting Life – 2:50
5.. The Great Flood – 3:30
6. The Return / The Death of Gilgamesh – 4:45


Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
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
String Bass
Piano
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV-V, including:

  • Bass Drum
  • Bells
  • Chimes
  • Concert Tom (medium)
  • Sleigh Bells
  • Snare Drum
  • Suspended Cymbals (2)
  • Tambourine
  • Tam-tam (large)
  • Tom-tom (low)
  • Triangle
  • Vibraphone
  • Water Gong (small)


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

From the composer of Night comes another powerful work for concert band. The Epic of Gilgamesh relates musical images of the poem of the same name. The six movements span the life of Gilgamesh, the ancient Persian ruler. Using exotic melodies, harmonies and orchestration, Robert Rumbelow portrays the ancient origins of this third-millenium-B.C. epic.

- Program Note from publisher


Gilgamesh was a major hero in ancient Mesopotamian mythology and the protagonist of the Epic of Gilgamesh, an epic poem written in Akkadian during the late 2nd millennium BC. He was likely a historical king of the Sumerian city-state of Uruk, who was posthumously deified. His rule probably would have taken place sometime in the beginning of the Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia) (henceforth ED), c. 2900 – 2350 BC, though he became a major figure in Sumerian legend during the Third Dynasty of Ur (c. 2112 – c. 2004 BC).

The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia, regarded as the earliest surviving notable literature and the second oldest religious text, after the Pyramid Texts.

The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with five Sumerian poems about Bilgamesh (Sumerian for "Gilgamesh"), king of Uruk, dating from the Third Dynasty of Ur (c. 2100 BC). These independent stories were later used as source material for a combined epic in Akkadian. The first surviving version of this combined epic, known as the "Old Babylonian" version, dates to the 18th century BC and is titled after its incipit, Shūtur eli sharrī ("Surpassing All Other Kings"). Only a few tablets of it have survived.

- Program Note adapted from Wikipedia


Media


State Ratings

  • North Carolina: VI


Performances

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Works for Winds by This Composer


Resources