Figures in the Garden

Jonathan Dove

General Info

Year: 1991
Duration: c. 18:15
Difficulty: VI (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Faber Music
Cost: Score and Parts - £25.00 | Score Only - £15.00

Movements

1. Dancing in the Dark – 2:15
2. Susanna in the Rain – 3:45
3. A Conversation – 1:15
4. Barbarina Alone - 2:25
5. The Countess Interrupts a Quarrel - 2:35
6. Voices in the Garden – 1:40
7. Nocturne: Figaro and Susanna – 3:10

Instrumentation

Full Score
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II
Horn in F I-II

Errata

In Parts:

Bassoon I, Movement II, m.57: First note is an E (like surrounding figures)
Clarinet I, Movement II, m.51: Concert F# should be Concert F (all Concert F mm. 51-53)

Program Notes

Jonathan Dove writes:

Figures in the Garden was composed for the 1991 Glyndebourne Mozart bicentenary celebrations. Glyndebourne commissioned five composers to write wind serenades. Each serenade was to be musically connected, in some way, with one of Mozart’s operas and was to be played outdoors before the performance of that opera. I was asked to compose a piece to precede The Marriage of Figaro/Le nozze di Figaro. Although Mozart’s comic masterpiece needs no introduction, musically or otherwise, I was attracted by the aptness of playing a serenade in the garden before performances of an opera whose last act is set in a garden, and which itself includes a number of serenades: Voi che spaete, ‘Deh veni, non tardar, and Suzanna and the countess’ letter-writing duet Canzonetta su sull ‘aria’.
I had the idea that, with all the performances of The Marriage of Figaro that had taken place at Glyndebourne, sounds from the opera had in some way impregnated the garden: snatches of recitative, musical figures, instrumental colours. I didn’t want to overwork Mozart’s tunes -- it would be disastrous if the audience were tired of them before the opera had even begun -- but each movement of Figures in the Gardens developed from a musical idea in the opera. Here and there an alternative scenario emerges: Suzanna sings her aria in the rain (because it’s an English garden), and Figaro and Suzanna finally enjoy a moment of shared tranquility that is denied them in the opera itself.

- Program Note by Temple University Wind Symphony: Chamber Winds concert program, 15 July 2015

Awards

Figures in the Garden has been recommended as interesting, serious and distinctive music by members of the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE).

Media

Audio CD: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (Antony Pay, conductor) - 2009

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

University of Memphis (Tenn.) Wind Ensemble (Albert Nguyen, conductor) – 25 February 2022 (CBDNA 2022 Southern Conference, Columbia, S.C.)
Texas Tech University (Lubbock) Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Lisa Tatum, conductor) - 28 October 2021
Indiana University (Bloomington) Chamber Winds (Daniel Johnson, conductor) - 1 April 2021
Ohio University (Athens) University Wind Ensemble (William Talley, conductor) - 10 March 2021
Eastman School of Music (Rochester, N.Y.) Wind Ensemble (Lindsay Bronnenkant, conductor) - 20 November 2020
University of Texas (Austin) Wind Symphony (Scott Hanna, conductor) – 27 September 2019
New Orleans (La.) Chamber Players (Joel Bein, conductor) - 26 January 2019
New England Conservatory (Boston) Symphonic Winds (Emily Mariko Eng, conductor) - 12 April 2018
Eastman Wind Ensemble (Rochester, N.Y.) (William Talley, conductor) – 6 April 2018
Temple University (Philadelphia, Pa.) Chamber Winds (Emily Threinen, conductor) – 15 July 2015 - WASBE Conference, San Jose, Calif.
Fresno State Chamber Winds (Bryan Raya, conductor) – 6 December 2013
Hudson Valley (N.Y.) Chamber Winds (Adam Fontana, conductor) – 3 March 2012 (CBDNA 2012 Eastern Division Conference, College Park, Md.)

Works for Winds by This Composer

Across the Walls
Fanfare for a New Theatre
Fanfares Across the Thames
Figures in the Garden (1991)
The Ringing Isle (arr. Littlemore) (1997/2002)

Resources

Dove, J.; Mozart, W. (1991). Figures in the Garden : Serenade for Wind Octet Based on Music from Mozart's Opera 'The marriage of Figaro' : 1991 [score]. Faber Music: London.