Banquet, The

Dana Wilson

General Info

Year: 2017
Duration: c. 7:45
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
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-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass (optional)
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV, including:

Bass Drum
Bongos (2)
China Cymbals
Cuica
Flumi
Hi-Hat
Marimba
Ratchet
Snare Drum
Suspended Cymbal (large and medium)
Tam-tam (small)
Tom-Toms (3)
Triangle
Tubular Bells
Vibraphone
Xylophone

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Protest and even “terrorism” are not new to American life. On February 12, 1916, a large banquet was held at the University Club of Chicago to celebrate the installation of George Mundelein as the third Archbishop of Chicago, Illinois. The chef for the event, the anarchist Jean Crones, slipped arsenic into the soup in an attempt to poison Mundelein and over 100 other guests, including Illinois Governor Edward F. Dunne. Due to the late arrival of about fifty extra guests, however, it was decided that the soup should be watered down so that the unplanned-for arrivals could also be fed. Virtually all suffered considerable agony and were near death when a doctor, J.B. Murphy, though stricken himself, managed to hastily prepare a potion to help the victims. Due solely to the soup's dilution and antidote, no one died. Newspapers referred to the mass-murder attempt as "the poison soup plot."

The story is important historically, but even more important as a morality tale. If the decision had not been made to share the soup with the unplanned-for arrivals, the dignitaries’ selfishness would undoubtedly have led to their deaths. By sharing what was designated for them, they were saved.

- Program Note by composer

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

University of Kansas (Lawrence) Symphonic Band (Matthew O. Smith, conductor) – 3 May 2018
Mundelein (Ill.) High School Wind Ensemble (Jerry Shelato, conductor) – 30 November 2017 *Premiere Performance*

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

"Composer premiers two works at MHS band concert." Lake County Sun-News, 5 December 2017. Web. Accessed 4 May 2018
Dana Wilson website Accessed 4 May 2018