Soundings
General Info
Year: 1995
Duration: c. 16:20
Difficulty: VII (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: MMB Music
Cost: Score and Parts - Rental | Full Score Only - $59.95
Movements
1. Fanfare - 2:45
2. Gizmo - 2:10
3. Waves - 4:35
4. Transmission - 6:15
Instrumentation
Full Score
Flute I-II-III (I doubling Piccolo)
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Contra-Alto Clarinet (optional)
B-flat Soprano Saxophone
E-flat Alto Saxophone
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
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III, including:
- Bass Drum (4 tonal)
- Crotales
- Cowbell (mounted)
- Cymbals (small, medium, large suspended)
- Glockenspiel
- Gong (Tam-tam)
- Hi-Hat
- Marimba
- Snare Drum
- Tambourine
- Vibraphone
- Vibraslap
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
Soundings is a four-movement work for wind symphony of approximately fifteen minutes' duration. It was commissioned in 1995 by the Big Eight Band Directors Association.
The title, Soundings, has been used by several composers and authors, including Glen Watkins for his book about music in the twentieth century. I chose the title quite literally for its "sound", but also because its definition, "the making or giving forth of sounds", complements the more descriptive titles of the individual movements: Fanfare, Gizmo, Waves, and Transmission.
Each of the four movements explores different musical territory:
I. Fanfare employs familiar musical materials such as quartal harmony and imitative counterpoint, but departs from traditional fanfares in its use of woodwind as well as brass instruments.
II. Gizmo reflects my fascination with gadgets, motoric rhythms, and the sound of major sevenths.
III. Waves was born out of my experience in the computer music studio and my preference for sounds whose shapes slowly expand and contract. Four musical layers are presented: (1) a steady tremolo in the percussion serves to anchor as well as to animate the music; (2) waves of sound through the lower brass and woodwinds are supported by timpani and tam-tam; (3) scattered, freely moving solos in the upper winds are complemented by; (4) a repeated melody played by trumpets, oboe, flute, and piccolo.
IV. Transmission is not unlike Gizmo in its reliance upon a quickly moving steady pulse and sonorities employing major sevenths. The title, Transmission, was chosen for its double meaning: (1) information from a transmitter and (2) an assembly of gears and associated parts by which power is transmitted from the engine to the gearbox. In Transmission I have "transmitted" musical information using "metric or temporal modulation", a process analogous to the one executed by the driver of an automobile smoothly shifting gears to change engine speed.
- Program Note by composer
Media
- Audio:
- Audio CD: North Texas Wind Symphony (Eugene Corporon, conductor).
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.) Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Mallory Thompson, conductor) – 21 February 2020
- Kennesaw (Ga.) State University Wind Ensemble (David T. Kehler, conductor) – 14 November 2019
- University of Georgia (Athens) Hodgson Wind Ensemble (Brian Chaplow, conductor) – 24 October 2019
- Ball State University (Muncie, Ind.) Wind Ensemble (Thomas Caneva, conductor) – 20 September 2019
- Hartwick College (Oneonta, N.Y.) Wind Ensemble (Andrew Pease, conductor) – 30 April 2019
- State University of New York, Fredonia, Wind Ensemble (Tiv Cumberbatch, conductor) – 28 April 2019
- Cornell University (Ithaca,N.Y.) Wind Symphony (James Spinazzola, conductor) – 2 October 2016
- Ball State University (Muncie, Ind.) Symphony Band (Caroline Hand, conductor) – 25 March 2016
Works for Winds by This Composer
- Ballet for Band (2004)
- California Counterpoint (1993)
- Circuits (1990)
- Double Play (2011)
- Fanfare for Trumpets (2004/2011)
- Fanfare from "Soundings" (1995)
- Finish Line (2006)
- Notezart (2018)
- Soundings (1995)
- Timepiece (2000/2001)
Resources
- Cindy McTee website
- Miles, Richard, compiler and editor. (2002). Teaching Music Through Performance in Band. Volume 2. Chicago: GIA Publications. pp. 508–512.
- Pease, Andy. "Soundings by Cindy McTee." Wind Band Literature. 21 March 2019. Web. Accessed 21 March 2019