Sunny-Side Up

From Wind Repertory Project
Michael Markowski

Michael Markowski


General Info

Year: 2018
Duration: c. 4:40
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Markowski Creative
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $125.00; (digital) - $125.00   |   Score Only (print) - $25.00; (digital) - $20.00


Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo (doubling Flute)
Flute I-II
Oboe
Bassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II
Horn in F I-II
Trombone I-II
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion (I-VI), including:

  • Bass Drum
  • Cabasa
  • Cowbell
  • Crash Cymbals
  • Glockenspiel
  • Marimba
  • Shakers
  • Snare Drum
  • Suspended Cymbal
  • Suspended trash cymbal
  • Temple Blocks
  • Xylophone


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

Rachael Ray is on the TV. She’s the guest cook on some network morning show and she’s teaching the studio audience how to make the perfect fried egg. So she cracks a couple eggs into the pan, makes a little endearing small-talk with the audience while the eggs lightly sizzle, grabs her bright green spatulas and flips the eggs over onto a plate. They aren’t burned. The yolk isn’t broke. Somehow, they’re perfect.

The studio audience goes crazy with applause. They have been dazzled! They have been wowed! The camera cuts to their reactions: their smiles are curtained wide open and their minds have been completely blown by this early morning kitchen wizardry. All over the perfect fried egg.

An egg.

I am not a morning person. I wish I was, but I need a serious amount of coffee before my body has enough energy to hoist my cheeks into something even resembling a smile. Actually, I think I’m a bit envious of morning people. Their optimism is something we love to hate on when the rest of us can barely get one grumpy leg out of bed, but this optimism is also kind of aspirational. It’s something to strive for.

Okay, Sunny-Side Up is not really about eggs. It’s a piece full of energy and anticipation. From the very first measure, we’re up and at ‘em! We’re flying fast after our early morning worm, pecking the ground incessantly in search of our breakfast. The musical caffeine flowing through our melodies makes the notes perk up loudly, sometimes obnoxiously so. They even get a bit twitchy as the piece unfolds. Aside from this morning rush, I think this piece is an homage to morning people. It’s an ode to the cockeyed optimistic and is dedicated to people who always ‘look on the sunny-side’ of life no matter what time it is or how many yolks might break along the way.

Sunny-Side Up premiered on November 9, 2018, in Bountiful, Utah, with the Viewmont High School Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band with special guest performers from Centerville Junior High School and Bountiful Junior High, Dan Chaston, conductor.

- Program Note by composer


Media


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • Oneonta (N.Y.) Community Concert Band (Andy Pease, conductor) - 11 June 2023
  • Hillcrest High School (Midvale, Utah) Wind Ensemble (Austin Hilla, conductor) – 29 October 2019
  • Hartwick College (Oneonta, N.Y.) Wind Ensemble (Andrew Pease, conductor) – 3 October 2019
  • Minnesota (Edina) Junior Winds (Charles Weise, conductor) – 9 April 2019
  • Viewmont High School Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band (Bountiful, Utah) (Dan Chaston, conductor) – 9 November 2019 *Premiere Performance*


Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music


All Wind Works


Resources

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