Looking at the Stars
This article is a stub. If you can help add information to it,
please join the WRP and visit the FAQ (left sidebar) for information. |
General Info
Year: 2010
Duration: c. 4:20
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Theodore Music
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $75.00
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-III
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV
(percussion detail desired)
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
Looking at the Stars was commissioned by the Association for Music in International Schools (AMIS) Asian Middle School Honor Band and premiered at the American School Pudong in Shanghai, China, on January 31, 2010. Looking at the Stars is a celebration of the hope and possibility embodied by the students in the Asian Middle School Honor Band and the international schools they represent. Unabashedly diatonic, the work comprises a few simple motives and melodies that connect and overlap to create a musical expression of great joy.
The title comes from a quote by Oscar Wilde that I first encountered while walking around London one night in March 2004. I stumbled upon a statue of the great author near Trafalgar Square with the inscription: "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." I borrowed from his quote to allude to our shared hopes and dreams; no matter how old or young we are or where in the world we may be, when we turn heavenward, we are all looking at the same stars.
- 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
- Virginia Tech (Blacksburg) Symphony Band (Chad Reep, conductor) - 15 November 2022
- Pali Charter High School (Pacific Palisades, Calif.) Wind Ensemble (Travis J. Cross, conductor) - 11 December 2019
- University of Nebraska Kearney Symphonic Band (Alyssa Olsen, conductor) – 12 April 2018
- University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) Campus Maize Band (Giovani Briguente, conductor) – 8 April 2018
- Loma Linda Academy (Calif.) Wind Symphony (Giovanni Santos, conductor) – May 2015
Works for Winds by This Composer
- Alleluia (as arranger) (1997/2004)
- And the grass sings in the meadows (2011)
- Be Thou My Vision (as arranger) (1999)
- Dawning Day (2006)
- Elegy (2009)
- Everlasting Light (2008)
- The Further Adventures of the Cowboy Kid and His Trust Sidekick Carlos (2004)
- Le vent de tristesse (2002)
- Let the Amen Sound (2012)
- Looking at the Stars (2010)
- Lullaby (2013)
- Memento (2011)
- Morning Song (2000)
- Music Aurea (2018)
- Rizzendo (2008)
- Short Essay (2003/2009)
- Things That Never Were (2010)
- Tribute (2007)
- Yesterdance (2016)