Ten of a Kind
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This work is also known as Symphony No. 2; for Clarinet Section and Wind Ensemble.
General Info
Year: 2001
Duration: c. 26:30
Difficulty: VII (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Edition Peters
Cost: Score and Parts - Rental
Movements
1. Labyrinth - 5:20
2. Song of Stylings - 8:30
3. Yoikes and Away - 7:35
4. Scherzo: Martian Counterpoint - 7:10
Instrumentation
Full Score
Piccolo
Flute I-II
Alto Flute
Oboe I-II
English Horn
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III-IV-V-VI
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
Bassoon I-II
Contrabassoon
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
C Trumpet I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III-IV
Euphonium I-II
Tuba
Percussion I-II-III-IV
(percussion detail desired)
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
Writing a multi-movement symphony in this day and age is something of a divisive enterprise: some think it is what composers ought to do, while others, fearing the death of the orchestra, think it is a waste of time, recherche, and not any longer the province of even the most serious of composers; people, it is assumed in various corners, simply don't listen to music that way any more. Rakowski, however, solves the problem: when writing Ten of a Kind, his second symphony and a grand piece just under half an hour in length, he writes not for the conventional Mahler-sanctioned orchestra, but for a concert band-in particular, the "President's Own United States Marine Band, who commissioned the work from him. It is, in scope, a symphony, a vigorous, musico-dramatic piece composed on a grand scale, but with a particular instrumentation. The combination, in Rakowski's able hands, is very fresh.
"Ten of a Kind," Rakowski writes in the frontispiece to the score, "is a symphony that treats the clarinet section [an E-flat clarinet, six B-flat clarinets, alto clarinet, bass clarinet, and contrabass clarinet] like a big concerto soloist." He understood the conventional use of these instruments in a wind ensemble setting, and tried to do something a little different with them: "I thought," he says, "there must be some way to give these clarinets something more to do than fake violin parts from orchestral transcriptions." So the composer, trying as always to refigure an ensemble to suit not only the sound of his own music, but to challenge himself with each new piece, set out to make something totally different.
The four separate movements ("Labyrinth", "Song Stylings", "Yoikes and Away" and the eponymous "Martian Counterpoint") are largely composed of fast music, with the exception of "Song Stylings"-- and, as is his way with large pieces, this slow music was the section Rakowski wrote first, and it is from the opening melodic material in the flutes that he derives the material for the whole piece. Unlike most music composed for band, this is highly virtuosic stuff, not only technically complex, but musically; it takes a talented ensemble -- the band equivalent of an Orpheus or a Speculum --to make artistic sense of Rakowski's dense but rewarding score. The "President's Own" rises to the challenge remarkably.
- Program Note from liner notes of CD RAKOWSKI: Symphony No. 2 / Etudes / Mento / Cerberus
This work, commissioned by the United State Marine Band, was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2002.
- Program Note from composer's website
Commercial Discography
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
Works for Winds by This Composer
- Cantina
- Sibling Revelry (2004)
- Ten of a Kind (2001)
Resources
None discovered thus far.