Crescent Still Abides, A

David Gillingham

Subtitle: Adagio for Winds and Percussion

General Info

Year: 1998
Duration: c. 11:00
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: C. Alan Publications
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $128.00; (digital) - $128.00 | Score Only (print) - $40.00

Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II (II doubling English Horn)
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Saxophone
E-flat Alto Saxophone
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
Piano
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV-V, including:

Bass Drums (2)
Bells
Brake Drums (5)
Chimes
Crotales
Marimba
Suspended Cymbal (large)
Tam-tam (large)
Vibraphone
Xylophone

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Each that we lose takes part of us;
A crescent still abides,
Which like the moon, some turbid night,
Is summoned by the tides.
from Bulletins from Immortality
- Emily Dickinson

Between August 31 and September 8, 1997, the world lost three most precious human beings: Princess Diana, Georg Solti and Mother Teresa. A Crescent Still Abides seeks to express both the sadness of this loss and the hope and joy that all three brought into this world. The "adagio theme" of sadness is first heard in the clarinet choir at measure 13 and alternates through a series of episodes and interlude-like sections, all of which add intensity to a type of mourning. Interspersed are references to all three people -- Princess Diana with a quote of Holst's beautiful melody from Jupiter of The Planets (later to become the hymn, I vow to Thee My Country which is sung at Diana's funeral); Georg Solti with a reference to Siegfried's Funeral March from Wagner's Der Ring der Nibelungen, a tribute to Solti's monumental feat of recording the whole "Ring" cycle; and to Mother Teresa with the chant, Requiem aeternam dona eis Domine from the opening of the Mass for the Dead of the Catholic Church. All the darkness and sadness turns into rays of hopeful light when the "adagio theme" is transformed in the major mode and flows to a joyous resolve and then recedes to a very peaceful conclusion.

- Program Note by composer

Media

Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown

State Ratings

Tennessee: V

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

University of Oklahoma (Norman) Wind Ensemble (William Wakefield, conductor) – 25 February 1999 (CBDNA 1999 National Conference, Austin, Tx.)

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

Appalachian Counterpoint (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
At Morning's First Light (Flex instrumentation) (2004/2020)
Scherzo d'Espoir (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
Three Ships (Flex instrumentation) (2020)

All Wind Works

Abiquiu (2010)
Aerodynamics (2003)
America the Beautiful (as arranger) (1882/2018)
And Can It Be? (2000)
Angels of the Apocalypse (2013)
Apocalyptic Dreams (1995)
Appalachian Counterpoint (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
Assurance
At Evening's First Star (2019)
At Morning's First Light (2004)
At Morning's First Light (Flex instrumentation) (2004/2020)
Au Sable River Festival (2002)
Be Thou My Vision (1999)
Bells of Freedom (2002)
Beneath the Sacred Light (2015)
Bright Gleams a Beacon (2012)
Cantus Laetus (2001)
Century Variants (2009)
Concertino for Four Percussion and Wind Ensemble (1997)
Concerto for Euphonium, Winds and Percussion (2009)
Concerto for Horn and Symphonic Band (2008)
Concerto for Woodwind Quintet and Wind Ensemble (1984/2006)
Concerto No. 2 for Marimba and Wind Ensemble (2008)
Concerto for Piano, Percussion and Wind Orchestra (arr. Fisher) (2005)
Council Oak (2002)
A Crescent Still Abides (1998)
Crest of Honor (2005)
Double F Fanfare (2008)
Drums of Rwanda (2014)
The Echo Never Fades (2004)
Finale, from All Hail the Power
Fire Up
Foster's America (2003)
Foundations (2017)
Galactic Empires (1998)
Glorified (2010)
Heroes, Lost and Fallen (1990)
Homage (2012)
Home Again (2016)
Internal Combustion (1999)
Intrada Jubilante (1979/1999)
Jeju Memoir (2019)
Joyau (2019)
Keep Silence (2004)
Kentucky Home (2012)
A Light Unto the Darkness (1997/1998)
Mansions of Glory (2007)
New Century Dawn (1999)
No Shadow of Turning (2005)
Point of Reckoning (arr. Daughtrey) (2015)
Providence (2003)
Quintessence I (1997)
Quintessence II (2006)
Radiant Moonbeams (2007)
Rising Star
Sails of Time (2006)
Scherzo d'Espoir (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
Serenade for Winds and Percussion (2000)
Seven Bagatelles (2014)
Song Shall Never End, The (2014)
Sub-Saharan Rhythm (1998)
Symphony No. 2 (2007)
Three Ships (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
Vintage (1990)
Vital Signs of Planet Earth (2015)
Waking Angels (1997)
When Speaks the Signal Trumpet Tone (1999)
While the Dew Is Still on the Roses (2013)
With Heart and Voice (2000)

Resources

David Gillingham website Accessed 4 November 2021
Gillingham, D. (1998). A Crescent Still Abides [score]. C. Alan Publications: Greensboro, N.C.