Lark's Song in the Clear Air, A
General Info
Year: 2012
Duration: c. 4:15
Difficulty: II (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: RBC Music
Cost: Score and Parts - $55.00 | Score Only - $7.75
Instrumentation
- Full Score
- Flute (div.)
- Oboe
- Bassoon
- B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II
- B-flat Bass Clarinet
- E-flat Alto Saxophone (div.)
- B-flat Tenor Saxophone
- E-flat Baritone Saxophone
- B-flat Trumpet I-II
- Horn in F I-II
- Trombone I-II-III
- Euphonium
- Tuba
- Timpani
- Percussion I-II-III, including:
- *Marimba (optional)
- *Suspended Cymbal
- *Tam-tam
- *Vibraphone
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
A Lark’s Song in the Clear Air was composed simultaneously for symphonic band and orchestra. The band setting was composed for and dedicated to The Woodlands High School Wind ensemble, Joni Perez, director. The composition is the second that The Woodlands has requested from composer Leroy Osmon for performance at the Midwest Clinic. The 2012 conference marks the 20th consecutive year for composer Osmon to have a work performed at Midwest. The composer writes:
“For many years I have had a passion for the works of some of the British composers from the turn of the last century, in particular, Vaughan Williams, Frank Bridge, Cyril Scott and of course, Percy Grainger. Although I have transcribed some of Grainger’s and Vaughan Williams’s music for symphonic band, I still felt the need to compose an original work in the style of those exceptional composers that I have so admired. A Lark’s Song in the Clear Air is the result of this infatuation with the English folk songs that have been so brilliantly preserved by these composers.
I have never been a composer who writes with a story or thematic program in mind. However, I am often moved to compose from the printed word. When I take the lead from a poem or prose work, I do not try to follow the author’s story line, rather to simply relate the mood or emotions behind the original text. With A Lark’s Song in the Clear Air, I do not want to portray the English countryside, nor capture a 'postcard’ image. If someone is standing looking at a landscape or seascape, I want to capture and evoke the emotions that you feel as a result of your experience. Often I compose works that I hope make the listener think. However, with this work I simply want the listener to enjoy.”
The piece ends in a way that might evoke the feeling one gets when birds simply fly away. The title was suggested to the composer by his wife. Together, they reside in Merida, Yucatan, Mexico.
- Program note from The Woodlands High School Wind Ensemble concert program, 21 December 2012
Audio
- Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown
- Audio CD: The Woodlands High School Wind Ensemble (Susan Meyer Patterson, conductor)
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- The Woodlands High School (Tex.) Wind Ensemble (Susan Meyer Patterson, conductor) – 21 December 2012 (2012 Midwest Clinic) *Premiere Performance*
Works for Winds by This Composer
- The Alchemist (2022)
- Aluxes
- American Songs
- and fragments of a dream... (2010)
- Ballade for Horn and Band (2010)
- Canciones y Sones de Mexico (2008)
- Chateau Le Bombadier Marche
- Christmas in The Netherlands (1999)
- Dance Poem (2006)
- David's Lyre
- Dia de los Muertos (2001)
- …dim points of lights…
- Down Longford Way & Shenandoah (as transcriber) (1990)
- Shenandoah (as arranger) (1907/1990)
- Elegy: Sixteen Minutes from Home (2005)
- Enigmatic Variations (2002)
- Experience the Adventure (2007)
- Fanfare for a Great Hall (2010)
- Fanfare, Elegy and Dance
- Four Dutch Hymns (1991)
- The Garden of Earthly Delights (2006)
- Hanszen Parish Overture
- The Hanukkah Gift (1999)
- Hebrew Folk Song Suite
- Hebrew Folk Song Suite No. 2 (2005)
- Hebrew Folk Song Suite No. 3 (2003)
- Hebrew Rhapsody (2003)
- Holliday Festival Overture (2002)
- Huapango! (as transcriber) (1941/1986)
- In Memory of a Summer Day
- In the Land of Green Lightning (2010)
- Introduction and Allegro (2015)
- A Lark's Song in the Clear Air (2012)
- March 104 (1998)
- Masada (2007)
- The Midnight Culmination of Sirius
- Prelude and Dance (2000)
- Prelude from "49th Parallel" (as transcriber) (1941/1960/1987/2002)
- The Rabbit and the Coyote (2005)
- Scotch Strathspey and Reel (as arranger) (1901-11/1982)
- Shenandoah. See: Down Longford Way & Shenandoah
- Symphony for Winds and Percussion (1997)
- Tower of The Winds (2009)
- Tuqa Gloria Emmeles
- West Point Songs (1981)
- The Widow's Party (as arranger) (1923/1929/2009)
Resources
None discovered thus far.