Awakening (Wilson)

Dana Wilson

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The title of this work is correctly written "Awakening..."

General Info

Year: 2011
Duration: c. 5:15
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $85.00; (digital) - $85.00 | Score Only (print) - $10.00

Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II (optional)
Bassoon (optional)
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II
B-flat Bass Clarinet (optional)
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 I-II
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV-V

(percussion detail desired)

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Beginning with silence and gradually building throughout to a powerful and dramatic close, this distinctive work explores the various facets of the word "awakening" as it applies to the waking of an individual, a day or a philosophical idea. Awakening... makes use of striking colors and sonic devices including full percussion near the climatic finish.

- Program Note from publisher

Awakening... is an example of postmodern music and exhibits the tendency of postmodern composers to combine ideas and techniques of different styles. Awakening... represents the common sound of early twenty-first century postmodernism in instrumental music -- a juxtaposition of American vernacular styles and contemporary concert music. Among other modern elements, the piece incorporates sound staging around the concert hall.

Awakening... is in a modified rondo form, consisting of four thematic sections and a coda. As the title suggests, the piece gradually comes from nothing and builds to a dramatic closing.

The work was commissioned by the Ithaca College School of Music and dedicated to the New York State School Music Association and all public school music teachers. The Ithaca College Wind Ensemble premiered the work in December 2011.

- Program Note adapted from Teaching Music Through Performance in Band

Media

Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

University of Minnesota (Minneapolis) Wind Ensemble (Rose Craig Tyler, conductor) - 6 February 2023
Kennesaw (Ga.) State University Wind Symphony (Debra Traficante, conductor) - 4 October 2021
University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire Symphony Band (Phillip Ostrander, conductor) – 17 November 2017
University of Tennessee (Knoxville) Wind Ensemble (Dana Wilson, conductor) - 6 March 2013 (ABA 2013 Annual Convention (Tampa, Florida))
University of Tennessee (Knoxville) Wind Ensemble (Gary Sousa, conductor) – 3 March 2013

Works for Winds by This Composer

A complete list of Dana Wilson's compositions may be found here:

Avatar, The (2005)
Awakening... (2011)
The Banquet (2017)
Black Nightshade (2004)
Calling, Ever Calling (1990)
Clarion Call (1988)
Colorado Peaks (2009)
Concerto for Double Bass and Wind Ensemble (2010)
Concerto for Drum Set and Wind Ensemble (2021)
Concerto for Horn and Wind Ensemble (1997)
Concerto for Jazz Piano and Wind Ensemble (2019)
Concerto for Trombone (2015)
Concerto for Tuba (Wilson) (2012)
Conjurer, The (2015)
Dance of the New World (1992)
Day Dreams (2006)
Evolution (1999)
Fanfare for a New Center (2011)
Fanfare for Karel (2017)
Footsteps (2010)
Front Burner (2020)
How Very Close (2012)
Io Rising
Kah! Out of Darkness (1999)
Last Ride to Solutré (1998)
Leader Lieder (1993)
Liquid Ebony (2006)
Liquid Gold (2005)
May the Road Rise Up to Meet You (2013/2019)
Odysseus and the Sirens (2008)
Of my dream before me... (2021)
Old Number One (2017)
On Fire! (2017)
The One-Lady Band from Owego (2021)
Piece of Mind (1987)
Primal Worlds (2000)
Quintessence (2019)
Sang! (1993)
Searching for Lost Dreams (2013)
Shakata: Singing the World into Existence (1989)
Shortcut Home (2003)
Speak to Me (2010)
...the harder they fall (2004)
the most sacred of times (2022)
Time Cries, Hoping Otherwise (1991)
To Set the Darkness Echoing (2005)
Uprising (1995)
Vortex (1999)
When I Am Gone Away (2006)
Winds on the Steppes (1994)

Resources

Dana Wilson website
Keck, Thomas. "Awakening." In Teaching Music through Performance in Band. Volume 9, edit. & comp. by Richard Miles, 490-495. Chicago: GIA Publications, 2013.
Wilson, D. [2012]. Awakening... [score]. Boosey & Hawkes: New York.