Amazing Grace (Ticheli) (flex)

From Wind Repertory Project
Frank Ticheli

Frank Ticheli


Subtitle: For Flex Band or Flex Orchestra, with Optional Vocals


General Info

Year: 1835 / 1994 / 2021
Duration: c. 4:55
Difficulty: III (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Manhattan Beach Music
Cost: Score and Parts (digital) - $75.00


Instrumentation (Flexible)

Full Score
Part 1

  • Flute
  • Oboe
  • B-flat Soprano Clarinet
  • B-flat Trumpet
  • Violin

Part 2

  • B-flat Soprano Clarinet
  • E-flat Alto Saxophone
  • B-flat Trumpet
  • Violin

Part 3

  • B-flat Soprano Clarinet
  • E-flat Alto Saxophone
  • B-flat Trumpet
  • Horn in F
  • Viola

Part 4

  • Bassoon
  • B-flat Tenor Saxophone
  • Trombone
  • Euphonium
  • Horn in F
  • Cello

Part 5

  • Bassoon
  • B-flat Bass Clarinet
  • E-flat Baritone Saxophone
  • Trombone
  • Euphonium
  • Tuba
  • String Bass

Timpani
Percussion I-II, including:

  • Crash Cymbal
  • Glockenspiel
  • Suspended Cymbal
  • Triangle
  • Vibraphone

Vocals (optional)


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

I wanted my setting of Amazing Grace to reflect the powerful simplicity of the words and melody -- to be sincere, to be direct, to be honest -- and not through the use of novel harmonies and clever tricks, but by traveling traditional paths in search of truth and authenticity.

I believe that music has the power to take us to a place that words alone cannot. And so my own feelings about Amazing Grace reside in this setting itself. The harmony, texture, orchestration, and form are inseparable, intertwined so as to be perceived as a single expressive entity.

The spiritual, Amazing Grace, was written by John Newton (1725-1807), a slave ship captain who, after years of transporting slaves across the Atlantic Ocean to the New World, suddenly saw through divine grace the evilness of his acts. First published in 1835 by William Walker in The Southern Harmony, Amazing Grace has since grown to become one of the most beloved of all American spirituals.

Amazing Grace was commissioned by John Whitwell in loving memory of his father, John Harvey Whitwell. It was first performed on February 10, 1994, by the Michigan State University Wind Symphony, John Whitwell conductor.

- Program Note by composer (1994 edition)


I was so Inspired by Amanda Gorman's amazing poem, I went out to my studio, worked around the clock, and completed Amazing Grace for flex band/orchestra with optional vocals. Completed on my birthday!

- Program Note by composer (2021 edition)


N.B. Poet Amanda Gorman read her poem The Hill We Climb at the presidential inauguration of Joe Biden on January 20, 2021.


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

  • National Concert Band of America (Washington, D.C.) (Adrian Holton, conductor) - 24 October 2021
  • Oneonta (N.Y.) Community Concert Band (Ushuaia Diez, conductor) - 18 April 2021
  • University of Colorado Boulder Concert Band (Branden Steinmetz, conductor) - 14 April 2021


Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music


All Wind Works


Resources