Unending Stream of Life
Subtitle: Variations on All Creatures of Our God and King: For Symphonic Wind Ensemble
General Info
Year: 2007
Duration: c. 25:00
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: David Maslanka
Cost: Score and Parts - (print)i $349.00; (digital) - $244.00 | Score Only - $159.00
Movements
1. overture - All Creatures of Our God and King - 1:40
2. seeking - 3:45
3. brooding march - 3:00
4. as you proceed to your certain end, what is the point of being alive? - 3:25
5. a hard though that turns out alright - 4:25
6. a sweet tune - 5:20
7. All Creatures of Our God and King - 2:35
Instrumentation
Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
English Horn
Bassoon I-II-III (III doubling Contra Bassoon)
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III (One player doubling E-flat clarinet)
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Saxophone
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
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
String Bass
Piano
Timpani
Percussion I-V, including:
- Bass Drum
- Snare Drum
- Crash Cymbals
- Chimes
- Marimba
- Orchestra Bells
- Suspended Cymbal (large)
- Tam-Tam
- Tenor Drum
- Tom-Tom
- Vibraphone
- Xylophone
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
Unending Stream of Life was commissioned by, and is dedicated to, the Sacred Winds Ensemble, [Hazard, Kentucky], Scott Bersaglia, Artistic Director and Conductor, on the occasion of its 10th anniversary.
- Program Note from score
Scott Bersaglia, conductor of the Sacred Winds Ensemble, asked me to write a piece in honor of the 10th anniversary of the group. The commission reads: "The new work will be a minimum of five minutes in duration...oriented around a sacred theme to be chosen by the composer." Scott offered me a selection of hymn tunes, and All Creatures of Our God and King just stood out above all the others. It is a grand tune and it inspired a whole lot of musical thought in me. The result is a good deal longer than five minutes! It is a set of seven "songs" for wind ensemble, each embodying the original tune, or relating to it in some way. This old melody, All Creatures of Our God and King, is large in spirit, and the harmonization by Ralph Vaughan Williams, which I have adopted in the Overture, is full-bodied and wonderfully satisfying.
All things of light are paralleled and powered by an element of darkness, and my variations, particularly two through five, prove in that direction. Darkness here means awareness of a deep mystery in the universe, and of the struggles that all endure in this life.
The title Unending Stream of Life comes from the Vietnamese Buddhist monk and prolific author on Buddhist subject, Thich Nhat Hanh. One statement of his stayed with me through the composition of this piece: "We are life. We are inextinguishable!"
- Program Note by composer
Media
- Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown
- Audio CD: Illinois State University Symphonic Winds (Stephen K. Steele, conductor) - 2009
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Angelo State University (San Angelo, Tx.) Wind Ensemble (Jonathan Alvis, conductor) - 2 October 2022
- University of Nebraska (Lincoln) Wind Ensemble (Carolyn Barber, conductor) - 17 April 2021
- Heidelberg Wind Ensemble (Melbourne, Aus.) (Matt Klohs, conductor) – 18 August 2018
- Indiana State University Wind Symphony (Nikk Pilato, conductor) - 5 April 2018
- University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Wind Ensemble (Carolyn Barber, conductor) – 7 October 2015
Works for Winds by This Composer
- Alex and the Phantom Band (2002/2015)
- Angel of Mercy (2015)
- California (2016)
- A Child's Garden of Dreams (1981)
- Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Wind Ensemble (1999)
- Concerto for Marimba and Band (1990)
- Concerto for Clarinet and Wind Ensemble (2015)
- Concerto for Piano, Winds, and Percussion (1979)
- Concerto for Saxophone Quartet and Wind Ensemble (2012)
- Concerto No 2 for Piano, Winds, and Percussion (2002)
- Concerto No 3 for Piano and Wind Ensemble (2016)
- Concerto for Trombone and Wind Ensemble (2007)
- Crown of Thorns (1991)
- Desert Roads (2005)
- Fanfare-Variations on the Chorale Melody "Durch Adams Fall" (Through Adam's Fall). See: Recitation Book
- First Light (2016)
- Four Pieces for Band (1980)
- Give Us This Day (2005)
- Golden Light (1990)
- Heart Songs (2001)
- Hell's Gate (1997)
- Hohner (1999)
- Hosannas (2015)
- Husa (2016)
- Hymn for World Peace (2014)
- Illumination (2013)
- In Memoriam (1990)
- Laudamus Te (1995)
- Letter to Martin (2015)
- Liberation (2012)
- Little Concerto (1990)
- Mass (1995/2005)
- Montana Music: Chorale Variations (1993)
- Morning Star (1997)
- Mother Earth (2008)
- Mountain Roads (1997)
- On This Bright Morning (2013)
- Peace (2012)
- Prelude on a Gregorian Tune (1981)
- Procession of the Academics (2008)
- Quintet for Winds Number 2
- Recitation Book (2006)
- Remember Me (2013)
- Requiem (2013)
- Rollo Takes a Walk (1980)
- Saint Francis (2015)
- Sea Dreams (1998)
- The Seeker (2016)
- Song at the End of Time
- Songs for the Coming Day (2012)
- Song Book (2001)
- Symphony No. 2 (1987)
- Symphony No. 3 (1991/2007)
- Symphony No. 4 (1993)
- Symphony No. 5 (2000)
- Symphony No. 6 (2004)
- Symphony No 7 (2004)
- Symphony No 8 (2008)
- Symphony No. 9 (2011)
- Symphony No. 10 (2018)
- Tears (1994)
- Testament (2001)
- Traveler (2003)
- A Tuning Piece: Songs of Fall and Winter (1995)
- ufo dreams (1999)
- Unending Stream of Life (2007)
- Variants on a Hymn Tune (1995)
Resources
- Maslanka, D. (2007 [2013]) Unending Stream of Life: Variations on All Creatures of Our God and King: For Symphonic Wind Ensemble [score]. Maslanka Press: [New York].