First Light (Maslanka)
General Info
Year: 2016
Duration: c. 7:45
Difficulty: VI (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: David Maslanka
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $349.00; (digital) - $244.00 | Score Only (print) - $29.00; (digital) - $19.00
Instrumentation
Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon
Contrabassoon
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
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
Piano
Electric Organ
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III, including:
- Bass Drum
- Chimes
- Crash Cymbals
- Orchestra Chimes
- Sizzle Cymbal
- Snare Drum
- Suspended Cymbal (large)
- Tom-Toms (small, medium, large)
- Vibraphone
- Xylophone
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
First Light has two characters. They are marked in the musical score as “unforgettable wounds – darkness,” and “perseverance – first light.” It has been my long personal experience that no real change, no transformation, occurs without crisis. We don’t move if we don’t have to. This is as true on the societal and environmental levels as it is on the personal. We are facing huge crises in our society and in our world, with every aspect of human darkness rising to the surface. It is my faith that we, with imagination, work, and perseverance, are at the edge of a profound transformation – a movement into light.
- Program Note by composer
This work was commissioned by the United States Air Force Academy Band in honor of the 70th anniversary of the Air Force.
Media
- Audio: Reference recording. United States Air Force Academy Concert Band. (Shanti C. Simon, conductor)
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Bowling Green (Ohio) State University Symphonic Band (Bruce Moss, conductor) - 11 April 2023
- West Texas A&M University (Canyon) Symphonic Band (Donald Lefevre, conductor) - 13 February 2020 (2020 TMEA Conference, San Antonio)
- University of Kansas (Lawrence) Wind Ensemble (John Leonard, conductor) – 1 October 2019
- Atlanta (Ga.) Youth Wind Symphony (Scott A. Stewart, conductor) - 25 March 2019
- Ball State University (Muncie, Ind.) Wind Ensemble (Thomas Caneva, conductor) – 22 March 2019
- Musashino Academia Musicae Wind Ensemble (Tokyo, Japan) (Ray Cramer, conductor) - 20 December 2018 (2018 Midwest Clinic)
- University of Utah (Salt Lake City) Wind Ensemble (Scott Hagen) – 3 April 2018
- United States Air Force Academy Band (Shanti Simon, conductor) (Colorado Springs, Colo.) – 10 February 2017 *Premiere Performance*
Works for Winds by This Composer
- Alex and the Phantom Band (2002/2015)
- Angel of Mercy (2015)
- California (2016)
- A Child's Garden of Dreams (1981)
- Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Wind Ensemble (1999)
- Concerto for Marimba and Band (1990)
- Concerto for Clarinet and Wind Ensemble (2015)
- Concerto for Piano, Winds, and Percussion (1979)
- Concerto for Saxophone Quartet and Wind Ensemble (2012)
- Concerto No 2 for Piano, Winds, and Percussion (2002)
- Concerto No 3 for Piano and Wind Ensemble (2016)
- Concerto for Trombone and Wind Ensemble (2007)
- Crown of Thorns (1991)
- Desert Roads (2005)
- Fanfare-Variations on the Chorale Melody "Durch Adams Fall" (Through Adam's Fall). See: Recitation Book
- First Light (2016)
- Four Pieces for Band (1980)
- Give Us This Day (2005)
- Golden Light (1990)
- Heart Songs (2001)
- Hell's Gate (1997)
- Hohner (1999)
- Hosannas (2015)
- Husa (2016)
- Hymn for World Peace (2014)
- Illumination (2013)
- In Memoriam (1990)
- Laudamus Te (1995)
- Letter to Martin (2015)
- Liberation (2012)
- Little Concerto (1990)
- Mass (1995/2005)
- Montana Music: Chorale Variations (1993)
- Morning Star (1997)
- Mother Earth (2008)
- Mountain Roads (1997)
- On This Bright Morning (2013)
- Peace (2012)
- Prelude on a Gregorian Tune (1981)
- Procession of the Academics (2008)
- Quintet for Winds Number 2
- Recitation Book (2006)
- Remember Me (2013)
- Requiem (2013)
- Rollo Takes a Walk (1980)
- Saint Francis (2015)
- Sea Dreams (1998)
- The Seeker (2016)
- Song at the End of Time
- Songs for the Coming Day (2012)
- Song Book (2001)
- Symphony No. 2 (1987)
- Symphony No. 3 (1991/2007)
- Symphony No. 4 (1993)
- Symphony No. 5 (2000)
- Symphony No. 6 (2004)
- Symphony No 7 (2004)
- Symphony No 8 (2008)
- Symphony No. 9 (2011)
- Symphony No. 10 (2018)
- Tears (1994)
- Testament (2001)
- Traveler (2003)
- A Tuning Piece: Songs of Fall and Winter (1995)
- ufo dreams (1999)
- Unending Stream of Life (2007)
- Variants on a Hymn Tune (1995)