Symphony I (Appermont)
Subtitle: Gilgamesh
General Info
Year: 2003
Duration: c. 27:45
Difficulty: VI (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Beriato Music Publishing, through HeBu Musikverlag
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - €325.99
Movements
1. Gilgamesh & Enkidu – 5:00
2. Battle of Titans - 6:55
3. Adventures in the Forest - 4:40
4. Journey to Utnapishim – 11:10
Instrumentation
Full Score
Piccolo
Flute I-II (I doubling Alto Flute)
Oboe I-II
English Horn
Bassoon I-II
Contrabassoon
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III (15 players)
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone (2 players)
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III-IV (I doubling Flugelhorn)
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba (2 players)
String Bass
Piano
Celeste
Harp
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV, including:
- Bass Drum
- Bass Marimba
- Bell Tree
- Bongos
- Cabasa
- Chimes
- Conga
- Crash Cymbals
- Crotales
- Flexatone
- Glockenspiel
- Hi-Hat
- Maracas
- Sleigh Bells
- Snare Drum
- Suspended Cymbal
- Tambourine
- Tam-tam
- Temple Blocks
- Tom-toms (3: small, medium and large)
- Triangle
- Vibraphone
- Vibra-slap
- Wind Chimes (glass)
- Wood Blocks (3)
- Xylophone
Cello
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
The Epic of Gilgamesh was found in the middle of the 19th century, written on 25,000 clay tablets. After an extensive study of the tablets, this old Sumerian epic was translated, even though many of the tablets were never found. The epic was a source of inspiration for Bert Appermont to write his first symphony, which contains four movements: 1) Gilgamesh & Enkidu; 2) Battle of Titans; 3) Adventures in the Forest; 4) Journey to Utnapishim.
The first movement introduces the two half gods Gilgamesh and Enkidus. In the second movement, the two characters fight each other in a heroic battle and discover that they are equal in strength. They become friends and go on adventure in the forest (third movement), where they battle with all kinds of dangerous creatures. In the last movement (Journey to Utnapishim) Enkidu tries to find an answer to mortality, when his friend Gilgamesh dies.
- Program Note from publisher
Gilgamesh was a major hero in ancient Mesopotamian mythology and the protagonist of the Epic of Gilgamesh, an epic poem written in Akkadian during the late 2nd millennium BC. He was likely a historical king of the Sumerian city-state of Uruk, who was posthumously deified. His rule probably would have taken place sometime in the beginning of the Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia) (henceforth ED), c. 2900 – 2350 BC, though he became a major figure in Sumerian legend during the Third Dynasty of Ur (c. 2112 – c. 2004 BC).
The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia, regarded as the earliest surviving notable literature and the second oldest religious text, after the Pyramid Texts.
The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with five Sumerian poems about Bilgamesh (Sumerian for "Gilgamesh"), king of Uruk, dating from the Third Dynasty of Ur (c. 2100 BC). These independent stories were later used as source material for a combined epic in Akkadian. The first surviving version of this combined epic, known as the "Old Babylonian" version, dates to the 18th century BC and is titled after its incipit, Shūtur eli sharrī ("Surpassing All Other Kings"). Only a few tablets of it have survived.
- Program Note adapted from Wikipedia
Media
- Audio: Reference recording. Schweizer Armeespiel (Jan Cober, conductor)
- Audio CD: Symphonisches Blasorchester Schweizer Armeespiel (Jan Cober, conductor) - 2003
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Bevers Harmonieorkest (Bert Decavel, conductor) – 19 March 2017
- University of Hawaii (Honolulu) Wind Ensemble (Grant Okamura, conductor) – 20 March 2008 (CBDNA 2008 Western/Northwestern Division Conference, Reno, Nev.)
Works for Winds by This Composer
- Absalon (2000)
- Awakening (1997)
- Biberussa (2010)
- A Brussels Requiem (2017)
- Celtic Child (2005)
- Choralia (2000)
- Colors (1998)
- The Cross and the Crown (2012)
- Egmont (2003)
- Fantasia per la Vita e la Morte (2006)
- The Green Hill (2011)
- Hebrew Dance (2021)
- Humperdinck Variations (2016)
- Hymnus Pastorale (2006)
- Ivanhoe (2001)
- Jericho (2002)
- Magnolia (2012)
- Morning Star Variations (2016)
- Noah's Ark (1998)
- Robinson Crusoe (2009)
- Sacred Song (2010)
- Saga Candida (2002)
- The Sword in the Stone (2011)
- Symphony No. 1 (2003)
- Symphony No. 2 (2011)
- Tropical Fishes (2013), from Bestiarium
Resources
- Appermont, B. (2003). Symphony no. 1: Gilgamesh [score]. Beriato Music: Kontich, Belgium.
- Bert Appermont website Accessed 30 August 2021
- Gilgamesh. Wikipedia Accessed 26 August 2021
- Perusal score
- "Symphony no. 1 "Gilgamesh." Wind Band Symphony Archive. Web. Accessed 30 August 2021