World - Why - Die II?

From Wind Repertory Project
Rolf Rudin

Rolf Rudin

Subtitle: Minutes of Commemoration for the Victims of the September 11, 2001, Terrorist Attacks in the United States of America, Op. 64


General Info

Year: 2001 / 2015
Duration: c. 19:30
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: edition flor
Cost: Score and Parts - Contact Rolf Rudin


Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute I-II-III
G Alto Flute
Oboe I-II
English Horn
Bassoon I-II-III
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Saxophone
E-flat Alto Saxophone
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Piano
Harp
Timpani
Percussion, including:

  • Glockenspiel (2)
  • Tubular Bells
  • Vibraphone (2)


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

A moment of silence. The idea for this piece came to be after a catastrophe. During the first night, I was plagued by the horrific images you always see on television. And every time, you are shocked, stunned, weak, downcast. I never got over that event. This is how the piece was created, a form of coping with the situation, the psychological work of the apocalyptic scenario. What kind of music can you write about this?

A long reverberation -- or good acoustics in a room -- is essential for this piece. The type of acoustics that carry the sound -- the acoustics of big cathedrals. And the way the word “cathedral” is interpreted today, allows the World Trade Center to be regarded as one as well. In my piece I try to incorporate the sound of the acoustics in a cathedral. Even hear the sound that carries over and lingers in the air.

These acoustics are precisely organized and structured. Acoustic towers crunch. But doesn’t that create the acoustics of meditative quiet and stability? A chant (“grant us peace graciously”) -- asking for peace -- appears in the patient silence. A long, ever-repeating sound appears, that chants the question “Why?”, around the sound chords that form in rhythmic compressions. The wish for peace spreads into the spiritual room, and also into the world. At the end working to create a new sound room with major chords -- the music decays into the emptiness. Again, only silence remains “in peace, quiet and devotion”. This is a very special “biographical” or “time-related” composition -- with a structure-based style in a short time window.

The reflection of the specific situation was the focus. After long years of hibernation with this piece, it comes back into the light, and now ---finally! --- it will be performed.

- Program Note by composer


Awards


Media

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State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

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Works for Winds by This Composer


Resources