Przebudzenie

Mark Ford

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General Info

Year: 2016 / 2017
Duration: c. 4:50
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Orchestra
Publisher: Unknown
Cost: Score and Parts - Unknown

Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
English Horn
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
String Bass
Timpani
Percussion, including:

Bass Drum
Chimes
Toms (concert) (3)
Crash Cymbals
Gong
Snare Drum
Suspended Cymbal

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Przebudzenie (Pshed-bood-ZANYA) is the Polish word for “The Awakening” and the title of my new symphonic wind ensemble fanfare. I chose the title Przebudzenie because of my appreciation and understanding of the power of human resolve to rise up out of difficult times. The original orchestral version of Przebudzenie was dedicated to Wojciech Lasek, the director of the largest percussion festival in Europe, Drum Fest, in Opole, Poland. The orchestral fanfare was premiered in 2016 for the 25th Anniversary of Drum Fest by the Opole Philharmonic directed by Nicholas Williams. I first performed at Drum Fest in 2008, and since 2012 I have been honored to serve as the artistic director for the Drum Fest Marimba and Vibraphone International Competition. This fanfare was my tribute to Wojciech’s vision for the festival and for all of the people (musicians, staff and audiences) who have supported and developed Drum Fest into a world-class festival.

Not long after the orchestral premier of Przebudzenie, wind ensemble director Brad Genevro was on the campus of the University of North Texas. I had been a long-time fan of Genevro’s musicianship and his dedication to music education. We had worked together at UNT and also when he directed and recorded Stubernic Fantasy at Messiah College in Pennsylvania. Brad had just moved to the University of Texas at El Paso and he was looking for new works for his wind ensemble there. We discussed Przebudzenie and then later at the Texas Music Educator Association Convention in February of 2017 he commissioned me to write a wind version of the fanfare for the UTEP Wind Ensemble. The premiere will be on October 3, 2017, on the campus of the University of Texas at El Paso. Also on the program that night will be my concerto Stubernic Fantasy with marimbists Andy and Amy Smith!

Przebudzenie is my first composition that does not feature percussion or a percussion soloist. Revisiting this fanfare resulted not only in re-orchestrating the music but also rewriting and refining the original composition. In my opinion, this wind ensemble version brings a new vision to the composition as the wind ensemble genre is a perfect fit for this music.

The fanfare begins with antiphonal chimes surrounding the audience, imitating Opole, Poland’s Cathedral bells. In my original work, these chimes represented freedom as the Poles were the first country to reject the Soviet Union and Communist rule in 1989 through the Solidarity Movement led by Lech Walesa (Eastern Germany followed later that year by bringing down the Berlin Wall). However, in the wind ensemble version I feel that these chimes represent freedom of racial prejudice in the United States. In the “Land of the Free” it is my hope that we will soon be free of racial violence and prejudice as we are all Americans regardless of skin color or cultural background.

While Poland may seem a far distance away from the USA, Polish military leaders such as Tadeusz Kościuszko were a major asset to the American colonies’ fight for freedom in the American Revolution. So much so that Poland was the second country in the world to establish a democratic constitution in 1791 (after the USA in 1789). As a tribute to freedom, the final bars of the fanfare features a quote from the Polish National Anthem and a return of the antiphonal chimes.

- Program Note by composer

Media

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State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

University of Arkansas (Fayetteville) Wind Ensemble (Chris Knighten, conductor) – 1 March 2018
University of Texas at El Paso Wind Ensemble (Brad Genevro, conductor) – 3 October 2017 *Premiere Performance*

Works for Winds by This Composer

Cabasa! (2019)
Head Talk (1987/1996)
IE2 (2018)
Marimba Concerto for Wind Ensemble (2022)
My Friend Sriji (arr. Chapman)
One-Eyed Jacks (1996)
A Promise for Emily
Przebudzenie (2016/2017)
Stubernic Fantasy (2012)
The Surface of Life

Resources

Mark Ford website Accessed 27 June 2018