Sinfonia V: Symphonia Sacra et Profana
From Wind Repertory Project
Contents |
General Info
Year: 1973
Duration: c. 7:00
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Manhattan Beach Music
Cost: Score and Parts - $150.00 | Score Only - $25.00
Instrumentation
Full Score
Flute I (piccolo)
Flute II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
Eb Soprano Clarinet
Bb Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
Bb Bass Clarinet
Alto Saxophone I-II
Tenor Saxophone
Baritone Saxophone
Trumpet (in Bb) I-II-III-IV
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III-IV
Euphonium
Tuba
Piano/Electric Piano
Percussion I-II-III-IV, including:
- Bass Drum
- Bongos (2)
- Claves
- Cowbell
- Cymbal (crash, finger, and suspended)
- Glockenspiel
- Maracas
- Ratchet
- Snare Drum
- Tambourine
- Tam-Tam
- Temple Blocks (4)
- Timpani
- Triangle
- Vibraphone
- Woodblock
- Xylophone
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
Sinfonia V: Symphonia Sacra et Profana was composed in the Summer of 1973 at Brielle, New Jersey, on commission from the University City High School Wind Ensemble of University City, Missouri; it was premiered by that group in 1974. Subsequently the work was taken up by such distinguished conductors as Eugene Corporon, Thomas Dvorak, Craig Kirchoff and H. Robert Reynolds, receiving numerous performances in the United States, Canada, and England. Since its publication by Manhattan Beach Music in September of 1989 it has also traveled to Japan and Australia, and has become standard repertoire for high school as well as college bands and wind ensembles.
Sinfonia V is both a musical diary and a musical collage. I incorporated several musics that were much on my mind the time the work was written, including ragtime, which I had been studying intently for several years, as well as the plainchant hymn "Divinum Mysterium", which the choir of First Presbyterian Church, Belmar, New Jersey (where I was, and still am, organist and director of music) had used as a processional at Christmas time. If one imagines dialing across the FM radio band in a large city such as New York, the resulting collage (or to be more accurate, montage, as in film editing) might include a bit of early music (the Pavanne, and the chorales by Samuel Scheidt), some ragtime or jazz, some contemporary music, some voices, some instruments, et cetera.
At the same time, Sinfonia Vcontrasts secular musics-such as the Pavanneand the ragtime fragments-with sacred musics such as the Scheidt chorales and the plainchant hymn. There is no attempt to reconcile these two musical traditions, and the work ends in ambiguity.
Some listeners have found humor in it. I am not so sure. Here are some of the musics I was working with in the Summer of 1973, assembled in what I hope is a convincing musical structure-no padding, no transitions, no note-spinning. The piece aims to be concise and kaleidoscopic, profound as well as entertaining, sacred and profane.
Program Note by Timothy Broege
Commercial Discography
State Ratings
Texas: V
Recent Performances
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Additional Works for Winds by this Composer
- A Fable and a Folk Tale
- America Verses
- Bartok Variations
- Blue Alien Accumulation
- Bulesco for Band
- Charlotte Doyle's Voyage
- Climbing Eagle Mountain
- Concerto for Marimba
- Dreams and Fancies
- El Jardin de Esperanza
- Enumeration of the Actual
- Forest Green
- Four Breton Songs
- Geneva
- Geography of the Dream (Three Pieces for American Band, Set III)
- Green Passacaglia
- Grizzly Bear Rag
- Jody
- Kum Ba Yah
- Mysterian Landscapes
- No Sun, No Shadow, Elegy for Charles Mingus
- Peace Song
- Pilgrim Traveler
- Procession and Torch Dance
- Prelude and Fughetta
- Rhythm Machine
- Rhythm Games: The Waukesha Rondo
- Sinfonia III: Hymns and Dances
- Sinfonia IV: Suite for Winds and Percussion
- Sinfonia XII: Southern Heart, Sacred Harp
- Sinfonia XIII: Storm Variations
- Sinfonia XIV: Three Canzonas
- Sinfonia XV: Ursa Major
- Sinfonia XVI: Transcendental Vienna
- Sinfonia XVII: The Four Winds
- Sinfonia XVIII: Aurora
- Sinfonia XIX: Preludes and Grounds
- Slow March with Celebration
- Song and Variations
- Streets and Inroads
- Surfboard Blues
- Theme and Variations
- Three Pieces for American Band, Set I
- Three Pieces for American Band, Set II
- Train Heading West and Other Outdoor Scenes
- Wicked Story
Additional Resources
None discovered thus far.

