Song Book

From Wind Repertory Project
David Maslanka

David Maslanka


Subtitle: For Flute and Wind Ensemble


General Info

Year: 2001
Duration: c. 48:00
Difficulty: VI (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: David Maslanka
Cost: Score and Parts - Rental   |   Score Only - $182.75


Movements

1. A Song of Coming Awake - 9:35
2. Song: Solvitur Ambulando - 6:30
3. Song: In Loving Memory - 9:37
4. Song: In the Crucible of Your Pain - 11:13
4. A Song for the End of Time - 13:15


Instrumentation

Full Score
Solo Flute
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
A Clarinet I-II
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
C Trumpet I-II
Horn in F I-II
Trombone
Bass Trombone
Piano
Harp
Timpani
Percussion, including:

  • Anvil
  • Bass Drum
  • Bell Tree
  • Bongos
  • Brake Drum
  • Cabasa
  • Claves
  • Conga Drum
  • Crash Cymbals
  • Crotales
  • Egg Shaker
  • High Hat Cymbal
  • Maraca
  • Marimba
  • Metal Wind Chimes
  • Orchestra Bells
  • Sleigh bells
  • Snare Drum
  • Suspended Cymbals (large and small)
  • Tam-Tam
  • Temple Blocks
  • Vibraphone
  • Vibraslap
  • Woodblock (small)


Errata

In parts

2nd Movement:

  • Flute I-II , m. 159-163; All F#'s are incorrect. Those should be G sharps, matching the solo flute's figure.

4th movement:

  • Bass Clarinet m 20-21, these whole notes should be a written C#, not the printed A.
  • Oboe 1, m. 159 - Fourth beat (the D) is a half note - omit the last C in the bar.
  • Trumpets in C 1+2, m. 159 & 160; notes should be concert C and G, not the printed A and E.
  • Flutes 1+2, bar 168 and 172 - breath mark is missing. Add it at the end of the bar to continue the pattern of breathing every two bars.
  • Flutes 1+2, bar 208 - Phrase mark must continue all the way through the held F#, to the downbeat of M. 210.


Program Notes

Song Book is a set of pieces that are songlike – that is, intimate and expressive, though not necessarily quiet. The solo flute feels like a voice to me, one which has a complex story to tell, in the form of musical dreams.

The 371 Four-Part Chorales by Johann Sebastian Bach have been a long-time focus for my study and meditation. These chorales are the models for melodic and harmonic movement used by every beginning music theory student. I had my first encounter with them as a college freshman in 1961. Ten years ago I returned to singing and playing them as a daily warm-up for my composing. In that time I have come to experience the chorales as touchstones for dream space. I have used many of them as jumping-off points for my own compositions. The feeling is one of opening an unmarked door and being suddenly thrust into a different world. The chorales are the doors.

I have used three chorale melodies in Song Book. The first movement, A Song of Coming Awake, is based on Christ ist Erstanden (Christ is Risen); the third, In Loving Memory, on Von gott will Ich nicht lassen (I Never Wish to Part from God); the fifth A Song for the End of Time, on O Gott, du frommer Gott (O Good and Gentle God).

The title of the second movement, Solvitur Ambulando, is Latin for “it is solved by walking.” There is a centuries-old tradition that good ideas come while walking. It is a practice that I have used in my creative work for years. Intuition and intellect are engaged together by the alternating motion of the limbs. The Danish philosopher Kierkegaard wrote: “Above all, do not lose your desire to walk: every day I walk myself into a state of well-being; I have walked myself into my best thoughts ... If one just keeps on walking, everything will be all right.”

In the Crucible of Your Pain is a title that appeared in my mind as I was writing the fourth movement. I couldn’t explain it very well at the time of writing. Turmoil can be personal, but it can also come from the outside world. I am guessing in hindsight that this movement touches on the events of 9/11. The music embodies a deep sense of struggle and of unresolved pain.

The composition of Song Book was supported by a consortium of universities headed by Larry Gookin, Director of Bands, and Hal Ott, Professor of Flute at Central Washington University, Ellensburg, Wash.

- Program Note by composer


Media


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

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Works for Winds by This Composer


Resources

  • Maslanka, D. (2001). Song Book: For Flute and Wind Ensemble [score]. Carl Fischer: New York.
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