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High Songs, The
Subtitle: For Amplified Cello and Chamber Winds
General Info
Year: 2016
Duration:
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Theodore Presser
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $140.00 | Score Only (print) - $60.00
Movements
1. Nepenthe
2. Moto Perpetuo
3. Passacaglias
4. Adjusting the Torque
5. Song for Heidi
Instrumentation
Full Score
C Piccolo/Flute II
Flute I
Oboe
English Horn
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Trumpet I-II
Horn in F I-II
Trombone
Bass Trombone
String Bass
Piano
Timpani
Percussion I-II including:
- Bongos
- Cabassa
- Cowbell
- Finger Cymbals
- Flexatone
- Glockenspiel
- Log Drum
- Mark Tree
- Slapstick
- Snare Drum
- Suspended Cymbal
- Tambourine
- Temple Blocks
- Thai Gongs (tuned)
- Timbale
- Tom-tom
- Triangle
- Xylophone
Solo Cello, amplified
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
The High Songs was a commission led by Brian Lamb for his colleague Tess Remy-Schumacher and the University of Central Oklahoma Wind Symphony, in addition to nine other universities around the country. Very soon after I began writing the work did I realize the higher tessitura of the cello would be featured throughout and that I was actually writing songs for the instrument. The movements vary in genre, and it was my hope to present a balanced progression to the end.
The first movement, Nepenthe, opens the work on a minimalist plane, calling attention to the sedative nature of this calming elixir. The second movement, Moto Perpetuo, barrels forward with big-band style and rapid scherzando passages in the middle.
Movement III, Passacaglias, gives the cello a bel canto role over an ensemble that presents three very slow patterns over time. These patterns in the ensemble are based on simple interval games, wherein the challenge for the composer is to find a harmonic progression that drapes naturally over the stubborn patterns.
The final Movement, V, Song for Heidi, (with piano 4-hands), is a simple song to close out the set. My fiance, Heidi Ames, and I will often sit at the piano together for long stretches of time and play through four-hand music. It's difficult to find greater joy than right then in those private moments.
- Program Note by composer
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
- University of Puget Sound (Tacoma, Wash.) Wind Ensemble (Gerard Morris, conductor; Faithlina Abeshima, cello; Brenda Miller, piano) - 30 November 2018
- University of Arizona (Tucson) Wind Ensemble (Chad Nicholson, conductor; Theodore Buchholz, cello) – 24 March 2018 (CBDNA 2018 Western/Northwestern Conference, Rohnert Park, Calif.)
- Kennesaw (Ga.) State University Wind Ensemble (David T. Kehler, conductor; Charae Krueger, cello) – 12 September 2016
- University of Miami (Fla.) Frost Wind Ensemble (Timothy Shade, conductor; Ross Harbaugh, cello) – 18 April 2016
- University of Central Oklahoma (Edmond) Wind Symphony (Brian Lamb, conductor) – 18 March 2016 (CBDNA 2016 Southwestern Division Conference, Boulder, Colo.)
Works for Winds by This Composer
- American Child
- At Her Ladyship's Request (2017)
- The Bach Buch (as transcriber) (2011)
- Baroque (2018)
- Concerto Logic
- Double Concerto (2018)
- Four Factories (2006)
- The High Songs (2015)
- Hold This Boy and Listen (2008)
- Labyrinth (2019)
- My Brother's Brain (2011)
- Richard and Renée (2009)
- Serenade for Winds (2009)
- Slalom (2002/2008)
- A Spanish Silhouette (2010)
- The Three Embraces (2013)
- The Wranger (2006/2016)
Resources
- Carter Pann website Accessed 23 February 2016