Black Rainbow

Nathan Daughtrey

Subtitle: For 6 Percussionists & Symphonic Band

General Info

Year: 2014
Duration: c. 8:30
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: C. Alan
Cost: Score and Parts - $140.00 | Score Only - $28.00

Movements

1. Red: activity, energy, passion
2. Orange: creativity, playfulness, equilibrium
3. Yellow: wisdom, clarity of thought, orderliness
4. Green: harmony, sympathy, growth, expansion
5. Blue: peace & understanding, calm, relaxation
6. Indigo: infinity, bridge between the finite & the infinite
7. Violet: combination of red and blue energies; viewed as both an ending and a beginning

Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe (optional)
Bassoon (optional)
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
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
Timpani
Percussion, including:

Bass Drum
Bells
Bongos
China Cymbals
Conga
Crotales
Egg Shaker
Marimba
Ocean Drum
Sizzle Cymbal
Suspended Cymbal
Tom-Tom
Triangle
Vibraphone
Wind Chimesx
Xylophone

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Commissioned by the Coventry High School Band, Ned F. Smith, Director.

- Program Note from score

Commissioned by the Coventry High School band (Ned F. Smith, director), Black Rainbow explores the elusive and mystical moonbow – a rainbow produced by light reflected off the surface of the moon. Because it is dark when a moonbow appears, the human eye cannot detect the full spectrum of colors that are present, making the moonbow appear to lack color, thus the name black rainbow. Using the spectrum of seven colors found in all rainbows – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet or R.O.Y.G.B.I.V. – I derived a pitch set that is used as the thematic material throughout: B-flat, G, F, C-flat, G-flat, D-flat, D-natural.

Additionally, Black Rainbow divides into seven sections, traveling through the colors, each with its own unique energy.

Red: activity, energy, passion
Orange: creativity, playfulness, equilibrium
Yellow: wisdom, clarity of thought, orderliness
Green: harmony, sympathy, growth, expansion
Blue: peace & understanding, calm, relaxation
Indigo: infinity, bridge between the finite & the infinite
Violet: combination of red and blue energies; viewed as both an ending and a beginning

- Program Note from publisher

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

West Valley High School (Yakima, Wash.) Wind Ensemble (Kirk Knight, conductor) - 25 May 2023
Mukwonago (Wisc.) High School Wind Ensemble (Emma Angoli, conductor) – 12 December 2018
Lone Star Wind Orchestra (Dallas, Tex.) (Eugene Migliaro Corporon, conductor) – 26 March 2017
University of North Texas Symphonic Band (Dennis W. Fisher, conductor) - 30 April 2015
Vandercook College of Music (Chicago, Ill.) Symphonic Band (Charles T. Menghini, conductor) – 19 December 2014 (2014 Midwest Clinic)
Sydney University Wind Orchestra - 2014

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

Apollo's Chariot (Flex instrumentation) (2007/2021)
Appalachian Air (Flex instrumentation) (2003/2021)
Dark Matter (Flex instrumentation) (2016/2020)
Downtown Dash (Flex instrumentation) (2009/2020)
Such Small Things (Flex instrumentation) (2017/2020)
Ye Merry Fantasy (Flex instrumentation) (2020)

All Wind Works

Apollo's Chariot (Flex instrumentation) (2007/2021)
Appalachian Air (Flex instrumentation) (2003/2021)
As Above, So Below (2017)
Black Rainbow (2014)
Blaze (2021)
Bounce (2015)
Chasing Infinity (2018)
Dark Matter (2016)
Dark Matter (Flex instrumentation) (2016/2020)
Downtown Dash (2009)
Downtown Dash (Flex instrumentation) (2009/2020)
Ellipsis (2010)
Fidget (2015)
From the Ashes (2017)
Gate City Snapshot (2012)
Imagining World (2010)
Immortal Dream (2006)
Irish Washerwoman (2006)
Legend of the Sword (Daughtrey) (2007)
Limerick Daydreams (2006)
Mercury Rising (2005)
Point of Reckoning (as arranger) (2015)
Power Struggle (2009)
Sensus Vitae (2013)
Shine On! (2017)
Silent Canyons (2014)
Silver Moon (2007)
Spiraling Light (2016)
StarCatchers (2016)
Such Small Things (2017)
Such Small Things (Flex instrumentation) (2017/2020)
Through an Open Door (as arranger) (1893/2023)
Through the Horizon (2007)
True Things (2017)
Twitch (2016)
Water Spirits (2019)
Where Dreams Dance (2023)
Ye Merry Fantasy (Flex instrumentation) (2020)

Resources

Daughtrey, N. (2014). Black Rainbow: For 6 Percussionists and Symphonic Band [score]. C. Alan Publications: Greensboro, N.C.
Payne, Phillip D. "Gate City Snapshot." In Teaching Music through Performance in Band. Volume 9, edit. & comp. by Richard Miles, 155-163. Chicago: GIA Publications, 2013.