Unquiet Hours

From Wind Repertory Project
This work has been identified for inclusion in the Small Band Repertoire Initiative. You may find discussion of the work's challenges and merits under the Discussion tab above. You may also contribute your own thoughts and recommendations by joining the WRP.


David Biedenbender

David Biedenbender


General Info

Year: 2017
Duration: c. 6:25
Difficulty: III (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Bent Space Music, through Murphy Music Press
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $140.00


Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
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-III
Horn in F I-II
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion I-VI, including:

  • Bass Drum
  • Chimes
  • Crash Cymbal (placed on timpani)
  • Crystal Glass (2)
  • Glockenspiel
  • Marimba
  • Vibraphone


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

This piece grew out of wanting to respond in some way to the public health crisis of depression, specifically thinking about how junior high and high school students are bombarded with so many things these days. I take a slightly oblique approach to framing it in my program notes and with the title, because without text, printed program notes, and/or discussion framing the piece, I thought it was better to frame it in a way that might engender more empathy and be less specific. For me, this piece is about the unquiet hours -- the times when sadness, doubt, anxiety, loneliness, and frustration overwhelm and become a deluge of unceasing noise. When the distant din of the past and the steadily approaching uncertainty of the future grow closer and become louder than the present moment. When the world swirls and churns like a hurricane of discord and anger. And this piece is about finding peace inside this noise -- it is about listening, it is about being still, and it is about empathy.

Musically, there is one central idea in this piece, an idée fixe around which everything centers. This idea is repeated and varied -- even meditated upon -- slowly changing color and shape, becoming increasingly tumultuous until eventually returning to the quiet stillness of the opening.

Unquiet Hours was commissioned by the Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic.

- Program Note by composer


Awards

  • Sousa-ABA-Ostwald Award, 2019, winner


Media

(Needed - please join the WRP if you can help.)


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • Colorado Wind Ensemble (Denver) (David Kish, conductor) - 16 September 2023
  • Traverse City (Mich.) West Senior High Wind Ensemble (Chad S. Mielens, conductor) - 13 April 2023
  • Culver-Stockton College (Canton, Mo.) Wind Ensemble (Trent Hollinger, conductor) - 25 March 2023
  • University of Arkansas (Fayetteville) Symphonic Band (Chase Jones, conductor) - 23 February 2023
  • OMEA Districts 4 & 7 Viking Band (Birch Browning, conductor) – 19 November 2022 (Cleveland State University)
  • Chapman University (Orange, Calif.) Wind Symphony (Mathieu Girardet, conductor) - 12 November 2022
  • Nazareth College (Rochester, N.Y.) Wind Symphony (Jared Chase, conductor) – 19 February 2022 (CBDNA 2022 Eastern Conference, Baltimore, Md.)
  • United States Air Force Band (Washington, D.C.) (Don Schofield, conductor) - 6 March 2020 (86th Annual ABA National Convention)
  • Baylor University (Waco, Texas) Symphonic Band (Hannah Morrison, conductor) – 2 March 2020
  • Wind Symphony of Clovis (Calif.) (Gary P. Gilroy, conductor) - 20 February 2020 (2020 CASMEC Conference, Fresno)
  • Belmont University (Nashville, Tenn.) Concert Band (Barry Kraus, conductor) – 20 November 2019
  • University of Minnesota (Minneapolis) University Band (Preston Weber, conductor) – 28 October 2019
  • Westchester Symphonic Winds (Tarrytown, N.Y.) (Joseph Higgins, conductor) – 11 May 2019
  • University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire Symphony Band (Phillip A. Ostrander, conductor) - 9 March 2019
  • Huron (Mich.) High School Symphony Band (Robert Ash, conductor) – 28 February 2019
  • Walled Lake (Ohio) Central High School Wind Ensemble (Dave Rogers, conductor) – 7 March 2019
  • University of Oklahoma (Norman) Symphony Band (Michael E. Hancock, conductor) – 18 February 2019
  • University of Illinois (Champaign) Wind Orchestra (Beth Peterson, conductor) – 11 December 2018
  • Michigan State University (East Lansing) Concert Band (Arris Golden, conductor) – 4 October 2018
  • Texas Tech University (Lubbock) Concert Band (Sarah McKoin, conductor) – 26 February 2018
  • Riverwatch Middle School (Suwanee, Ga.) Symphonic Band (Matt Koperniak, conductor) - 21 December 2017 (2017 Midwest Clinic) *Premiere Performance*


Works for Winds by This Composer


Resources

  • Batcheller, James. "Unquiet Hours." In Teaching Music through Performance in Band. Volume 12, Compiled and edited by Andrew Trachsel, 488-495. Chicago: GIA Publications, 2021.
  • David Biedenbender website Accessed 15 December 2017
  • Perusal score