Tyger, The

Frank Ticheli

General Info

Year: 2008
Duration: c. 5:35
Difficulty: VI (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Manhattan Beach Music
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $250.00 | Score Only (print) - $35.00

Instrumentation

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

Bass Drum
Castanets
Claves
Glockenspiel
Maracas
Snare Drum
Suspended Cymbal (2)
Temple Blocks
Timbales
Tom-Tom (4)
Triangle
Vibraphone
Vibra-slap
Wood Block
Xylophone

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

The Tyger takes its title from William Blake’s well known poem of the same name, published in 1794 as one of the Songs of Experience.

The connection of my piece to Blake’s poem stems from my life-long love of Blake and his poetry. I was particularly drawn to “Tyger” for its dark energy. Power, terror, and awe are all symbolized by the tiger in the poem’s opening stanza:

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

Like the poem, my piece possesses an unsettling, at times terrifying, quality, exploring the darker side of existence. There is also a striking similarity between a tiger’s hunting and survival habits and my own work’s dramatic structure: long periods of quiet suspense are overcome by sudden explosions of violent energy.

The Tyger begins in the lowest register and gradually reveals a dark, driving ostinato. First appearing in the piano, the ostinato is varied and passed around the ensemble and contributes mightily to the work’s incessant, predatory quality. The energy never ceases, even during quiet periods. The tension mounts to reach its apex at the end -- a violent twelve-tone chord pounding furiously in repeated sixteenth notes, the haunting ostinato still sounding below.

- Program Note by composer

Media

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

University of Louisiana at Lafayette Wind Ensemble (William J. Hochkeppel, conductor) - 18 March 2023
Oklahoma City (Okla.) University Wind Philharmonic (Matthew Mailman, conductor) - 12 April 2022
University of Nebraska (Lincoln) Wind Ensemble (Carolyn Barber, conductor) - 1 December 2021
University of Wyoming (Laramie) (Robert Belser, conductor) – 13 February 2020
Northeastern State University (Tahlequah, Okla.) Wind Ensemble (James Adams, conductor) – 27 September 2018

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

Amazing Grace (Adaptable Band) (1994/2021)
Cajun Folk Songs: Belle (Adaptable Band) (1991/2002/2020)
Dance (Adaptable Band) (2002/2020)
Earth Song (Adaptable Band) (2012/2020)
Here Take This Lovely Flower (Adaptable Band) (2002/2020)
In C-Dorian (Adaptable Band) (2020)
In Yonder Valley (Adaptable Band) (2002/2020)
Joy (Adaptable Band) (2002/2020)
Loch Lomond (Adaptable Band) (arr. Ambrose) (2002/2020)
Moving On (Adaptable Band) (2021)
Moving On. See also: Suite Treats
Portrait of a Clown (Adaptable Band) (1988/2020)
Simple Gifts (four movements) (Adaptable Band) (2002/2020)
Simple Gifts (one movement) (Adaptable Band) (2002/2020)
Vesuvius (Adaptable Band) (1999/2020)

All Wind Works

Abracadabra (2005)
Acadiana (2016)
Amazing Grace (Ticheli) (1994)
Amazing Grace (Adaptable Band) (1994/2021)
Amen! (2009)
An American Elegy (2000)
Angels in the Architecture (2009)
Angels Rising (2023)
Apollo Unleashed. See: Symphony No. 2
Ave Maria (as arranger) (1825/2004)
BASH (2021)
Belle. See: Cajun Folk Songs: Belle
Blue Shades (1996)
Boundless River (2020)
Cajun Folk Songs: Belle (Adaptable Band) (1991/2002/2020)
Cajun Folk Songs, Part One (1990)
Cajun Folk Songs, Part Two (1997)
Concertino for Trombone (1987/2007)
Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Wind Ensemble (2014)
Concerto for Clarinet and Wind Ensemble (2010)
Concerto for Trumpet (1990/2021)
Dance. See: Simple Gifts: Four Shaker Songs
Dancing on Water (2015)
December Snow (2015)
Earth Song (Adaptable Band) (2012/2020)
Earth Song for Band (2012)
First Light (2013)
Fortress (1988)
Gaian Visions (1990)
Ghost Tale (2020)
Here Take This Lovely Flower. See: Simple Gifts: Four Shaker Songs
In C-Dorian (Adaptable Band) (2020)
In Yonder Valley. See: Simple Gifts: Four Shaker Songs
Joy (2005)
Joy (Adaptable Band) (2002/2020)
Joy Revisited (2005)
Korean Folksongs from Jeju Island (2013)
Life-Stream (2022)
Loch Lomond (2002)
Loch Lomond (Adaptable Band) (arr. Ambrose) (2002/2020)
Lux Perpetua (2020)
Midnight in Nairobi (2019)
Midnight (2019)
Moving On (Adaptable Band) (2021)
Moving On. See also: Suite Treats
Music for Winds and Percussion (withdrawn)
Nitro (2006)
Over the Moon (2023)
Pacific Fanfare (1994/2002)
Peace (2015)
Portrait of a Clown (Adaptable Band) (1988/2020)
Portrait of a Clown (1988)
Postcard (1991)
Rest (2011)
Sailing the Sky (2021)
San Antonio Dances (2010)
Sanctuary (2006)
Serenade for Kristin (2018)
A Shaker Gift Song (2004)
Shenandoah (1999)
Silver Lining (2017)
Simple Gifts (four movements) (Adaptable Band) (2002/2020)
Simple Gifts (one movement) (Adaptable Band) (2002/2020)
Simple Gifts: Four Shaker Songs (2002)
- In Yonder Valley (Adaptable Band) (2002/2020)
- Dance (Adaptable Band) (2002/2020)
- Here Take This Lovely Flower (Adaptable Band) (2002/2020)
Songs of Love and Life (2012)
Sun Dance (1997)
Symphony No. 1 (tr. Green) (2001/2011)
Symphony No. 2 (2004)
The Tyger (2008)
Under the Big Top (2019)
Vesuvius (1999)
Vesuvius (Adaptable Band) (1999/2020)
Wild Nights! (2007)

Resources

Frank Ticheli website Accessed 6 July 2020
Perusal score
Ticheli, F.; Blake, W. (2008). The Tyger: For Concert Band [score]. Manhattan Beach Music: Brooklyn, N.Y.