Paper Man, The

Harrison J. Collins

General Info

Year: 2018
Duration: c. 5:00
Difficulty: VI (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: J Stands for Joe Music
Cost: Score and Parts - $145.00

Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
C Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
English Horn
Bassoon I-II
Contrabassoon
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Clarinet I-II-III-IV
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Saxophone
E-flat Alto Saxophone
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II-III-V
Trombone I-II-III
Bass Trombone
Euphonium I-II
Tuba
String Bass
Piano
Harp
Percussion I-VIII, including:

Bass Drum
Chimes
Crash Cymbals
Hi-Hat
Marimba
Splash Cymbal
Suspended Cymbal
Tambourine
Timpani
Triangle
Vibraphone
Whip
Xylophone

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

The Paper Man loosely follows a short story of the same title that I wrote during my freshman year of high school, which in turn was a rewriting of an improvised "bedtime story" that I told my best friend at three in the morning on a road trip. The story follows a kind, unassuming young man with an unclear background who is simply known in his small secluded town as "The Man". His life is simple until a new waitress appears at the local café and their story is set in motion. At a whopping six pages long, the story is jam-packed with romance, dinosaurs, and a few thousand paper cranes. The Paper Man grew to be quite popular among my peers, and I found that it would be a great source of inspiration for a piece of music. The story is a simultaneously silly, sweet, and fun one, and it is these qualities that I aimed to depict within the work.

One unique aspect of this work is the use of paper to emulate the sound of lapping bird wings. Inspired by Eric Whitacre's use of this effect in his choral work Little Birds, I use it to represent living paper cranes, a motif seen throughout the story of The Paper Man. These paper cranes, represented also by a staccato motive first heard in flutes and moving throughout the ensemble, are as ever-present in the piece as they are in the story.

- Program Note by composer

Media

Audio: Reference recording. Metropolitan Winds

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

South Carolina Band Directors' Association Senior All-State Band (John Lynch, conductor) - 13 March 2022
Westminster Symphonic Winds (White Plains, N.Y.) (Curt Ebersole, conductor) - 7 May 2022
Texas Christian University (Fort Worth) Wind Symphony (Harry D. Blake, conductor) - 18 November 2021
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Symphonic Wind Ensemble (John P. Lynch, conductor) - 7 October 2021
Metropolitan Winds (Little Elm, Tx.) (Frank Felice, conductor) - 20 May 2018

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

O rose of May (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Trentadue) (2018/2020)
Shining as the Sun (Flex instrumentation) (2022)
Sunset Street (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
To Rights Our Wrongs (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Trentadue) (2021)

All Wind Works

The Beginning of Spring (2020)
Catalyst (2015)
Christmas Night (2020/2022)
Clash (2015/2018)
Dark Convictions (2022)
The Deer and the Owl
Electric City (arr. Trentadue) (2019/2022)
Fanfare for Wild Youthful Occasions (2022)
Finding Home (2021)
The Floodgates of the Sky (as transcriber) (2016/2020)
Four Architectures in Normal, Illinois
The Hymn of Ys
Into a world unknown (2022)
O rose of May (2018)
O rose of May (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Trentadue) (2018/2020)
The Paper Man (2018)
Shining as the Sun (Flex instrumentation) (2022)
Sunset Street (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
There and Back
These Radiant Moments (2022)
To Right Our Wrongs (2021)
To Right Our Wrongs (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Trentadue) (2021)
What We've Been Taught to Do with Death (2021)
Young Voices (brass ensemble) (2018)
Young Voices (wind ensemble) (2018/2020)

Resources

Harrison J. Collins website Accessed 27 October 2020
Perusal score