Andromeda (Gillingham)

From Wind Repertory Project
David Gillingham

David Gillingham


General Info

Year: 2019
Duration: c. 5:15
Difficulty: III (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: C. Alan Publications
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $85.00   |   Score Only (print) - $15.00


Instrumentation

  • Full Score
  • 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
  • Piano
  • Timpani
  • Percussion I-VI, including:
*Bass Drum
*Bells
*Brake Drum
*Chimes
*Concert Toms (4)
*Crash Cymbals
*Flexatone
*Hi-Hat
*Marimba
*Ocean Drum
*Suspended Cymbal
*Tam-tam
*Vibra-slap
*Xylophone


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

Andromeda is a space fantasy about a fictional flight to the Andromeda Galaxy, the largest galaxy next to our own Milky Way. The piece begins with an introduction capturing the mysteriousness of the unknown galaxy about to be explored. The section is permeated with unusual sounds, eerie chord progressions and a sense of reticence about the unknown captured through repeated ostinato in the piano and keyboard percussion. The section closes with a sense of calm but is quickly interrupted by the next fast section which seeks to depict the flight of the spaceship toward the Andromeda Galaxy using a dramatic theme in G minor characterized by shifting tonality, chromatic median relationships, and ascending/descending lines.

This segues to the next section which features a secondary lyrical theme in the B-flat Lydian which alludes to the beauty and wonder of the “new world”. But the music grows intense as the spaceship senses danger ahead. It is forced to negotiate through meteor showers and avoid black holes characterized by pounding percussion, dissonant bell chords, and overlapping dark chords between the brass and woodwinds. All of this danger is too much to bear and the spaceship is forced to turn around and head for home with the return of the main theme in G minor. The section reaches a climax and modulates to C major where a repeated pattern of eighth notes in the upper brass and woodwinds accompany an augmented version of the first theme in the low brass and woodwinds.

The spaceship encounters more danger on its return depicted by ascending chromatic lines and dissonant chords. A dramatic descending chromatic chord progression signifies the ship’s descent back into the safety of our own galaxy. The second theme is heard again in the trumpets and horns accompanied by repeated eighths in the woodwinds alluding to the memory of the Andromeda galaxy. The music becomes calm and a reflective coda follows using motives of the second theme bringing the piece to a quiet conclusion.

- Program Note from publisher


Commissioned by the J.T. Lambert Intermediate School 7th and 8th Grade Band, East Stroudsburg, PA; Kevin Horne, Director.

- Program Note from score


The Andromeda Galaxy is a barred spiral galaxy and is the nearest major galaxy to the Milky Way, where the Solar System resides. It was originally named the Andromeda Nebula and is cataloged as Messier 31, M31, and NGC 224. Andromeda has a diameter of about 46.56 kiloparsecs (152,000 light-years)[8] and is approximately 765 kpc (2.5 million light-years) from Earth.

The galaxy's name stems from the area of Earth's sky in which it appears, the constellation of Andromeda, which itself is named after the princess who was the wife of Perseus in Greek mythology.

- Program Note from Wikipedia


Media


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • Clarenden Hills (Ill.) Middle School 8th Grade Band (Eric Morong, conductor) - 5 May 2023


Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music


All Wind Works


Resources

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