Julius Caesar

From Wind Repertory Project
Robert Kurka

Robert Kurka (trans. Robert Schwartz)


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Subtitle: Symphonic Epilogue after Shakespeare.

The original work bears the designation Opus 28.


General Info

Year: 1955 / 2022
Duration: c. 9:00
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Manuscript
Cost: Score and Parts - Rental


Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
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
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion, including:

  • Bass Drum
  • Crash Cymbal
  • Glockenspiel
  • Snare Drum
  • Suspended Cymbal
  • Xylophone


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

The story of Julius Caesar has served as the inspiration for some two dozen operas. (Handel’s version of 1724 is the best known; more recent works include Gian Francesco Malipiero’s Giulio Cesare of 1936, and the 1971 puppet opera Young Caesar by Lou Harrison.) Shakespeare’s 1599 tragedy Julius Caesar, which takes Caesar’s assassination as its dramatic engine, has inspired concert overtures from Robert Schumann, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Felix Draeseke, and Hermann Hirschbach; incidental music from Darius Milhaud, John Ireland, Hans von Bülow, Marc Blitzstein, Harrison Birtwistle, Vagn Holmboe, and others; and film scores from Miklós Rózsa and Malcolm Arnold. Kurka’s Julius Caesar dates from 1955 and premiered by the San Diego Symphony Orchestra in the same year.

Kurka’s Symphonic Epilogue after Shakespeare (as the piece is subtitled) opens with an aggressive theme evoking Roman conquest and the emperor’s might. A lyrical melody suggests the drama’s more introspective moments, not least the gnawing guilt of Brutus. The build-up to what must be the moment of Caesar’s assassination is portrayed at the center of the work by a march that grows from naïve to menacing. A tragic theme and a mysterious passage — perhaps music to accompany the appearance of Caesar’s ghost — lead to a powerful, dirge-like coda.

- Program Note from Southeastern Louisiana University Wind Symphony Program, 29 September 2022


Media

None discovered thus far.


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • Southeastern Louisiana University (Hammond) Wind Symphony (Robert Schwartz, conductor) - 29 September 2022 *'Transcription premiere performance*


Works for Winds by this Composer


Resources

  • Robert Schwartz, personal correspondence, September 2022