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Songs Without Words
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Subtitle: Five Mood Pieces for Large Wind Ensemble
Contents
General Info
Year: 2001 / 2007
Duration: c. 15:30
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Theodore Presser
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - Rental | Score Only (print) - $60.00
Movements
1. Manic – 1:50
2. Reflective – 4:15
3. Giddy – 2:20
4. Stunned - 3:05
5. Confident – 4:45
Instrumentation
Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
English Horn
Bassoon I-II
Contra-Bassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass 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
Celeste
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV
(percussion detail needed)
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
Commissioned by the College Band Directors' Association, Songs Without Words includes five short movements, each a musical exploration of a specific mood (1. Manic, 2. Reflective, 3. Giddy, 4. Stunned , 5. Confident), as expressed by winds, brass, and percussion. The finale quotes themes from the previous movements, then, says Welcher, "ends in a bouyant cloud of optimism."
- Program Note by publisher
Dan Welcher writes,
Since the very nature of a piece entitled Songs Without Words would be destroyed by too many words about the piece, it seems best to let the movement titles speak for themselves. Mendelssohn's set of celebrated piano pieces in this genre establishes a precedent for short, mood-oriented works with simple titles attached... I began this composition imagining five moods that could be portrayed in wind, brass, and percussion colors – then expanded on the idea of linking the separate motives together in the fifth "song." The effect would be one of looking at separate elements of a personality, then looking at the whole person.
- Program Note from Teaching Music Through Performance in Band
Commercial Discography
- Audio CD: North Texas Wind Symphony (Eugene Migliaro Corporon, conductor) - 2002
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
Works for Winds by this Composer
- Arches (1985)
- Castle Creek (1989/2009)
- Downshifting (2014)
- For the Mystic Harmony (2017)
- Glacier (2003)
- Hauntings (1986)
- Perpetual Song (2008)
- Songs Without Words (2001/2007)
- Spumante (1998/1999)
- Symphony No. 3, "Shaker Life" (1997)
- Laboring Songs
- Circular Marches (1997)
- Symphony No. 4, "American Visionary" (2005)
- Symphony No. 6, "Three Places in the East" (2017)
- Minstrels of the Kells (2002)
- Upriver (2011)
- The Yellowstone Fires (1998)
- Zion (1994)
Resources
- Miles, Richard B., and Larry Blocher. 2002. Teaching Music Through Performance in Band. Volume 4. Chicago: GIA Publications. pp. 555-565.
- Welcher, D. (2007). Songs Without Words : Five Mood Pieces for Large Wind Ensemble [score]. Elkan-Vogel: King of Prussia, Penn.