|
Please DONATE to help with maintenance and upkeep of the Wind Repertory Project!
|
Snowflakes Dancing
General Info
Year: 2012 / 2016
Duration: c. 5:25
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Neil A. Kjos
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $75.00 | Score Only (print) - $8.00
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 Contra Alto 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
String Bass
Piano
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV-V, including:
- Bass Drum
- Bongos
- Cabasa
- Castanets
- China Cymbals
- Egg Shaker
- Finger Cymbals
- Log Drum
- Marimba
- Sandpaper Blocks
- Shekere
- Sleigh Bells
- Suspended Cymbal
- Tambourine
- Tom-Tom (4)
- Triangle
- Vibraphone
- Wood Block
- Xylophone
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
Infectious rhythms and melodies permeate this many-layered composition by Andrew Boysen Jr. Every measure alternates between 4/4 and 6/8 time signatures.
- Program Note from publisher
Snowflakes Dancing was commissioned by Dr. Scott Jones, Dr. Peter Haberman, and the Concordia College Bands for the 2013 Honor Band. My intent in writing the piece was to create a minimalist work for high school band. The basic process at work throughout Snowflakes Dancing revolves around the idea of layering. Every musical idea that enters is in a four-bar pattern that repeats four times, so that every four measures one musical element leaves the texture and a fresh element simultaneously enters. This creates a constantly shifting texture that gradually morphs over time. Additionally, most of the melodic elements return several times, each time becoming either more or less complex.
When I completed the piece, I still had no idea what to call it. Since I finished the work during the winter, it occurred to me that the shifting textures of the work created musical images that were always related but never identical, just like snowflakes. It also occurred to me that the premiere would be in northern Minnesota in early April. I joked with my wife that, although it was spring, it would be ironic if it snowed that weekend of the premiere...which it did!
- Program Note by composer
Awards
- College Band Directors National Association (CBDNA) Young Band Composition Contest, 2013.
Media
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Robert Morris University (Moon Township, Penn.) Wind Ensemble (Scott Miller, conductor) - 11 December 2021
- Dr. Lawrence R. Sutherland Wind Festival Orchestra (Fresno, Calif.) (Andrew Boysen Jr., conductor) - 17 March 2019 (2019 Sutherland Wind Festival (Fresno, Calif.)
- Ball State University (Muncie, Ind.) Concert Band (Stuart Ivey, conductor) – 25 April 2018
- Ohio State University (Columbus) Scarlet High School Honor Band (Scott A. Jones, conductor) – 14 January 2018
- Messiah College (Mechanicsburg, Penn.) Symphonic Winds (Travis Weller, conductor) - 3 November 2017
- George Washington University (Washington, D.C.) Wind Ensemble (Robert Birch, conductor) – 21 October 2017
- The Ohio State University (Columbus) Symphonic Band (Scott A. Jones, conductor) – 16 November 2016
- Ohio State University (Columbus) High School Honor Band (Scott Jones, conductor) – 19 January 2014
Works for Winds by This Composer
- Alchemy (2008/2013)
- All the Pretty Little Horses. See: Three Folk Song Settings for Band
- Ancient Runes (2017)
- Apples (2018)
- Branden's Rainbow (1997/2002)
- Bright Sunny Days (2013)
- By My Side (2018)
- Casus Belli (2018)
- Celebration In Brass (1995)
- Concerto for Percussion (as transcriber) (1994/1997)
- Conversations with the Night (1994)
- Dance, from All Hail the Power
- December Dance (2005)
- Diamond Jubilee Suite (2018)
- Distorted Images: A Jazzman's Nightmare (1989)
- A Fallen Leaf (2004)
- Fanfare: In Memoriam (2015)
- Fantasy on a Theme by Sousa (2003)
- Frenzy (2010)
- The Four Horsemen (1989)
- A Glimpse through the Trees (2014)
- Grant Them Eternal Rest (2003)
- Havener Fanfare (2012)
- Heirloom (2009)
- I Am (1990)
- John Henry (1990)
- Joyride (2003/2008)
- Kinetic Energy (1994)
- Kirkpatrick Fanfare (1999)
- The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (2006)
- Metamorphosis (2013)
- Old Ben's Farm (2016/2019)
- On the Merrimack (2010)
- Ovations (1995)
- Phoenix (2020)
- Poor Wayfaring Stranger. See: Three Folk Song Settings for Band
- Relentless (2000)
- Scarborough Fair. See: Three Folk Song Settings for Band
- Scherzo (1995)
- Scherzo No 2 (2013)
- Shades of Ivory (1996)
- Simple Song (1995)
- Snowflakes Dancing (2012/2016)
- Song for Lyndsay (2005)
- Song for My Children (2013)
- Song for My Parents (2020)
- Song of Loudest Praise, A (2010)
- Song of the Sea Maidens (1994)
- Stamp, from A Jack Stamp Suite (2017)
- Star-Crossed (2013)
- Symphony No. 1 for Winds and Percussion (1997)
- Symphony No. 3 (1999)
- Symphony No. 4 (2006)
- Symphony No. 6 (2012)
- Symphony No. 8 (2015-2016)
- Symphony No. 10 (2019)
- This Is the Drum (2013)
- Thoughts of You (1998)
- Three Folk Song Settings for Band
- Poor Wayfaring Stranger (2007/2012)
- All the Pretty Little Horses (as arranger) (2014)
- Scarborough Fair (as arranger) (2013)
- Time Streams (After Tricycle) (2011)
- To Break Earth's Sleep (2015)
- Tricycle (1997)
- Twilight of the Gods (2010)
- An Uncommon Man (1993)
- Unraveling (2006)
- Urban Scenes (1993)
- The Vikings (2015)
Resources
- Andrew Boysen Jr. website Accessed 11 November 2016
- Perusal score