Saint Francis
Subtitle: Two Studies for Wind Ensemble
General Info
Year: 2015
Duration: c. 18:00
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Maslanka Press
Cost: Score and Parts - $299.00 | Score Only - $79.00
Movements
1. I – 7:00
2. II, Flowing – 9:40
Instrumentation
Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
Contrabassoon
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet I-II
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Saxophone
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
Piano
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV-V (5 players), including:
- Anvil
- Bass Drum
- Bell Plate (suspended)
- Chimes
- Crash Cymbals
- Crotales
- Marimba
- Suspended Cymbals (3; small, medium, large)
- Tam-Tam (small)
- Vibraphone
- Xylophone
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
In 800 years, all the actual details of the life of St. Francis have faded to white, and there has emerged St. Francis the icon of childlike gentleness, the little flower, the one who talks to the birds and the animals, who has a brother sun and a sister moon. However, under this benign and smiling image lies the true nature: the fierce and unshakable determination to imitate the way and being of Christ as closely as possible: radical poverty, physical abasement, following the vision of the Holy Mother, complete dependence on the perceived will of God – to the extent that the stigmata of Christ appeared spontaneously on his body, and he was said to have ascended into the air while praying.
Why St. Francis as the subject of this piece of music? Some years ago I had a dream of St. Francis. It began with me being in the presence of a metal object that looked vaguely human in form, but was thousands of degrees hot. Touching it would be fatal … I touched it! It changed into the figure of St. Francis dressed as a Chinese peasant. Holding his hands on either side were an African and an Asian child. For me this was an indication for my life path of opening the lives of young people through music.
Larry Gookin has had a long-time fascination with St. Francis, and he and Karen have visited Assisi and communed with that spirit. The heated compassion of St. Francis is mirrored in Larry’s lifelong devotion to the movement of young lives through music. This new piece is a tribute to Larry’s devotion. It is both a summation and an open door to the future.
- Program Note by composer
Media
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Carmel (Ind.) High School Wind Symphony (Michael Pote, Conductor) - 7 May 2022
- Southern California School Band and Orchestra Association All-Southern 2019 High School Wind Ensemble (Chris Chapman, conductor) – 27 January 2019
- William Mason High School (Mason, Ohio) Wind Symphony (Micah Ewing, conductor) - 15 December 2016 (2016 Midwest Clinic)
- Illinois State (Normal) University Symphonic Winds (Martin H. Seggelke, conductor) – 15 November 2015
- Central Washington University Wind Ensemble (Larry Gookin, conductor) – 7 July 2015 – *Premiere Performance*
Works for Winds by This Composer
- Alex and the Phantom Band (2002/2015)
- Angel of Mercy (2015)
- California (2016)
- A Child's Garden of Dreams (1981)
- Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Wind Ensemble (1999)
- Concerto for Marimba and Band (1990)
- Concerto for Clarinet and Wind Ensemble (2015)
- Concerto for Piano, Winds, and Percussion (1979)
- Concerto for Saxophone Quartet and Wind Ensemble (2012)
- Concerto No 2 for Piano, Winds, and Percussion (2002)
- Concerto No 3 for Piano and Wind Ensemble (2016)
- Concerto for Trombone and Wind Ensemble (2007)
- Crown of Thorns (1991)
- Desert Roads (2005)
- Fanfare-Variations on the Chorale Melody "Durch Adams Fall" (Through Adam's Fall). See: Recitation Book
- First Light (2016)
- Four Pieces for Band (1980)
- Give Us This Day (2005)
- Golden Light (1990)
- Heart Songs (2001)
- Hell's Gate (1997)
- Hohner (1999)
- Hosannas (2015)
- Husa (2016)
- Hymn for World Peace (2014)
- Illumination (2013)
- In Memoriam (1990)
- Laudamus Te (1995)
- Letter to Martin (2015)
- Liberation (2012)
- Little Concerto (1990)
- Mass (1995/2005)
- Montana Music: Chorale Variations (1993)
- Morning Star (1997)
- Mother Earth (2008)
- Mountain Roads (1997)
- On This Bright Morning (2013)
- Peace (2012)
- Prelude on a Gregorian Tune (1981)
- Procession of the Academics (2008)
- Quintet for Winds Number 2
- Recitation Book (2006)
- Remember Me (2013)
- Requiem (2013)
- Rollo Takes a Walk (1980)
- Saint Francis (2015)
- Sea Dreams (1998)
- The Seeker (2016)
- Song at the End of Time
- Songs for the Coming Day (2012)
- Song Book (2001)
- Symphony No. 2 (1987)
- Symphony No. 3 (1991/2007)
- Symphony No. 4 (1993)
- Symphony No. 5 (2000)
- Symphony No. 6 (2004)
- Symphony No 7 (2004)
- Symphony No 8 (2008)
- Symphony No. 9 (2011)
- Symphony No. 10 (2018)
- Tears (1994)
- Testament (2001)
- Traveler (2003)
- A Tuning Piece: Songs of Fall and Winter (1995)
- ufo dreams (1999)
- Unending Stream of Life (2007)
- Variants on a Hymn Tune (1995)