|
Help keep the WRP alive by making a small donation. Visit here to find out more.
|
Wild Nights!
Contents |
General Info
Year:
Duration: c. 6:30
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher:
Cost: Score and Parts - $0.00 | Score Only - $0.00
Instrumentation
Full Score
Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
Bb Soprano Clarinet I-II-III-IV
Bb Bass Clarinet
Eb Alto Saxophone I-II
Bb Tenor Saxophone
Eb Baritone Saxophone
Bb Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV, including:
- Bass Drum (concert and pedal)
- Bongos
- Cymbals (crash and suspended)
- Glockenspiel
- Marimba
- Tam-Tam
- Tambourine
- Temple Blocks
- Triangle
- Vibraphone
- Xylophone
Errata
Program Notes
Wild Nights!" is a joyous, colorful seven-minute musical journey inspired by Emily Dickinson's poem:
Wild nights! Wild nights!
Were I with thee,
Wild nights should be
Our luxury!
Futile the winds
To a heart in port,
Done with the compass,
Done with the chart.
Rowing in Eden!
Ah! the sea!
Might I but moor
To-night in thee!
Numerous composers have set the words of Wild Nights! to music (Lee Hoiby's song setting and John Adams' Harmonium come immediately to mind). However, to my knowledge, no one has used this wonderfully sensuous poem as the basis for a purely instrumental tone poem. This was my aim, and in so doing I focused most heavily on the lines “Done with the compass,/Done with the chart” and “Rowing in Eden!/Ah! the sea!” These words suggested the sense of freedom and ecstatic joy that I tried to express in my work.
Throughout the piece, even during its darker middle section, the music is mercurial, impetuous, optimistic. A jazzy syncopated rhythmic motive permeates the journey. Unexpected events come and go, lending spontaneity and a sense of freedom. The work is composed in five distinct sections, but contained within each section are numerous surprises and a devilmay-care swagger. Surprises are found at every turn, and continue right through the final cadence.
Wild Nights! was commissioned by the California Band Directors Association in celebration of their 50th anniversary.
-Program Note by Frank Ticheli
Commercial Discography
None discovered thus far.
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Recent Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Sacramento Symphonic Winds (Lester E. Lehr, conductor) - 6 April 2013 (ACB’s 35th Annual Convention (San Ramon, Calif.))
- California State Northridge Wind Ensemble (Kyle Stephens, conductor) - 7 March 2013
- United States Coast Guard Band [at San Luis Obispo, Calif.] (CWO Richard Wyman, conductor) - 16 July 2011
- California State University Symphonic Band (Nikk Pilato, conductor) - 3 May 2012
Works for Winds by this Composer
- Abracadabra
- Amazing Grace
- Amen!
- An American Elegy
- Angels in the Architecture
- Blue Shades
- Cajun Folk Songs, Part One
- Cajun Folk Songs, Part Two
- Earth Song for Band (2012)
- Fortress
- Gaian Visions
- Joy
- Joy Revisited
- Loch Lomond
- Music for Winds and Percussion (withdrawn)
- Nitro
- Pacific Fanfare
- Portrait of a Clown
- Postcard
- Rest (2011)
- San Antonio Dances (2010)
- Sanctuary
- Shaker Gift Song, A
- Shenandoah
- Simple Gifts: Four Shaker Songs
- Sun Dance
- Symphony No. 1 (tr. Green)
- Symphony No. 2
- Vesuvius
- Wild Nights!
Additional Resources
