Into the Silent Land
General Info
Year: 2018
Duration: c. 8:45
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Steve Danyew
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $169.99; (digital) - $169.99 | Score Only (print) - $35.00
Instrumentation
Full Score
Flute I-II (I doubling piccolo)
Oboe
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet (optional)
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
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV-V, including:
- Bass Drum
- Chimes
- Crotales
- Glockenspiel
- Marimba
- Snare Drum
- Suspended Cymbal
- Tam-Tam
- Tenor Drum, low (2)
- Vibraphone
Narrator
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
On December 14, 2012, twenty children and six educators were killed by a gunman at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Sandy Hook, Connecticut. Having grown up in Sandy Hook just a mile from the school, this is where I attended grades 3-5. For the past several years, I have thought about writing a piece of music that would reflect on this tragedy, but I have struggled to know where to start. Even after beginning to sketch out ideas for this piece, I felt unsure of where the piece should go and what it should communicate. In an effort to find a clearer sense of direction, I searched for poetry that reflected how I was feeling. When I came across Remember, a moving poem by Christina Rossetti, I found the direction I was looking for. Through the simple idea of remembering — not forgetting that this happened, not forgetting these children, not forgetting the grief that their families must feel -- I realized this is what I wanted and needed to communicate through music.
The music incorporates elements of a funeral march, as well as a lament, using a descending tetrachord as a ground bass. The funeral march and the lament are combined early in the piece and after the ground bass repeats and grows to a climax, the funeral march gradually fades and a more ethereal music emerges.
Into the Silent Land was commissioned by a consortium of schools and individuals led by Dr. Jared Chase and Nazareth College.
- Program Note by composer
Awards
- National Band Association William D. Revelli Composition Contest, 2018, Finalist
Media
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Chicago Wind Symphony (Chicago, Ill.) (Michael McCain, conductor) - 28 October 2023
- Morningside University (Sioux City, Iowa) Wind Ensemble (Martin I. Gaines, conductor) - 29 April 2023
- University of Indianapolis (Ind.) Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Jon Noworyta, conductor) - 23 April 2023
- San Jose (Calif.) Wind Symphony (David Vickerman, conductor) - 26 February 2023
- Youngstown (Ohio) State University Wind Ensemble (Michael Butler, conductor; Stella Mitchell, narrator) – 29 January 2023 (Severance Music Center, Cleveland)
- San Jose (Calif.) Metropolitan Band (Ken Nakamoto, conductor) - 17 December 2022
- University of Cincinnati (Ohio) College-Conservatory of Music Wind Symphony (Kevin Michael Holzman, conductor; Claire Ankrum, narrator) - 11 September 2022
- San Luis Obispo (Calif.) Wind Orchestra (Jennifer Martin, conductor; Ainslea DeCoster, narrator) – 8 May 2022
- California All-State High School Symphonic Band (Marcellus Brown, conductor) – 20 February 2022 (2022 CASMEC Conference, Fresno)
- Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory (Berea, Ohio) Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Brendan Caldwell, conductor; Isabel Haskell, narrator) - 11 February 2022
- Ohio University (Athens) Symphonic Band II (Max Van Dyne, conductor; Ash Pawlak, narrator) - 10 February 2022
- Angelo State University (San Angelo, Tx.) Wind Ensemble (Jonathan Alvis, conductor) - 28 March 2021
- University of Central Missouri (Warrensburg) Wind Ensemble (Anthony Purcell, conductor; Anna Coombs, narrator) - 27 February 2021
- College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University (St. Joseph, Minn.) Wind Ensemble (Justin Zanchuk, conductor; Sophia Bohn-Gettler, narrator) - 12 February 2021
- University of Arkansas at Little Rock Wind Ensemble (Ken Goff, conductor)– 10 March 2020
- University of Illinois (Champaign) Wind Orchestra (Beth Peterson, conductor) – 28 February 2020
- University of South Florida (Tampa) Symphonic Band (Michael Lebrias, conductor; Leighton McCutchen, narrator) – 25 February 2020
- CBDNA North-Central (Chicago, Ill.) Intercollegiate Band (J. Eric Wilson, conductor) – 22 February 2020 (CBDNA 2020 North Central Division Conference, Chicago, Ill.)
- Houghton (N.Y.) College Wind Ensemble (Timothy McGarvey, conductor) – 21 February 2020
- University of Missouri (Columbia) Wind Ensemble (Brian Silvey, conductor) – 20 February 2020 (CBDNA 2020 Southwestern Division Conference, Norman, Okla.)
- Nazareth College (Rochester, N.Y.) Wind Symphony (Jared Chase, conductor; Katie Hannigan, narrator) – 8 March 2018 *Premiere Performance*
Works for Winds by This Composer
Adaptable Music
- Canon Fanfare (Flex instrumentation) (2021)
- The Lost City of Tryon (Flex instrumentation) (2021)
- Three Fugues by J.S. Bach (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (1722/2020)
- Fugue No. 2 (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (1722/2020)
- Fugue No. 16 (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (1722/2020)
- Fugue No. 23 (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (1722/2020)
- Three Spirituals (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (1722/2020)
- Down by the Riverside (Flex instrumentation) (as adapter; arr. Burleigh) (1922/2020)
- Deep River (Flex instrumentation) (as adapter; arr. Burleigh) (1917/2020)
- I Want to Be Ready (Flex instrumentation) (as adapter; arr. Burleigh) (1917/2020)
- Three Tallis Melodies (Adaptable Band) (as arranger) (2020)
All Wind Works
- Adagietto (2014)
- Alcott Songs (2015)
- Amazing Grace (2020)
- American Nocturne (2021)
- Canon Fanfare (Flex instrumentation) (2021)
- Distant Moons
- Entrata (2019)
- Festival Music (2020)
- Flash Back
- For This Brave New Day (2020)
- Fugue No. 2 (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (1722/2020)
- Fugue No. 16 (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (1722/2020)
- Fugue No. 23 (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (1722/2020)
- Goodnight, Goodnight (2010)
- Green Diamond (2018)
- An Hour of Hallowed Peace (2016/2019)
- Into the Silent Land (2018)
- Journeys
- Lamentation for Euphonium and Wind Ensemble (2019)
- Lauda (2009)
- The Lost City of Tryon (Flex instrumentation) (2021)
- Magnolia Star (2012)
- Montis Dei. See: Lauda
- Mountainscape (2012)
- River Town Jubilee (2015)
- The Star-Spangled Banner (as arranger) (1814/2011)
- This World Alive (2013)
- Three Fugues by J.S. Bach (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (1722/2020)
- Fugue No. 2 (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (1722/2020)
- Fugue No. 16 (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (1722/2020)
- Fugue No. 23 (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (1722/2020)
- Three Scenes from Home (2017)
- Three Spirituals (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (1722/2020)
- Down by the Riverside (Flex instrumentation) (as adapter; arr. Burleigh) (1922/2020)
- Deep River (Flex instrumentation) (as adapter; arr. Burleigh) (1917/2020)
- I Want to Be Ready (Flex instrumentation) (as adapter; arr. Burleigh) (1917/2020)
- Third Mode Melody (2020)
- Three Tallis Melodies (Adaptable Band) (as arranger) (2020)
- Vermont State Fair (2015)
- Winter Song (2018)
Resources
- Hoch, Christopher D. "Into the Silent Land." In Teaching Music through Performance in Band. Volume 12, Compiled and edited by Andrew Trachsel, 379-388. Chicago: GIA Publications, 2021.
- Pease, Andy. "Into the Silent Land." Wind Band Literature. Web. Accessed 7 September 2018
- Steve Danyew, personal correspondence, December 2018
- Steve Danyew website Accessed 8 March 2018