Dancing Fire
General Info
Year: 2016
Duration: c. 3:50
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Murphy Music Press
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $150.00 | Score Only (print) - $25.00
Instrumentation
Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II-III-IV
Oboe I-II
Bassoon
Contrabassoon
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
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-IV
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Harp
Piano
Timpani
Percussion I-VII, including:
- Bass Drum
- Bongos
- Cabasa
- Claves
- Conga
- Drum Set
- Glockenspiel
- Marimba
- Suspended Cymbal
- Triangle
- Vibraphone
- Xylophone
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
When I was writing Dancing Fire, I wanted to write a piece for my high school band program and its directors for the great pieces we played, the fun times we had, and the excitement our bands created at our concerts. The picture I had in my head before I began writing was a group of people surrounding a large bonfire during the night. These people began dancing around the fire, having fun, singing songs, and ultimately, celebrating life.
Once I had that picture in my head, along with the constant repeating motif that eventually became the melody for the entire piece, the rest of the work fit together nicely, and in two weeks it was done. The composition brings this mental picture I had to life in a fun and energetic way with dance-like percussion and a constant groove, as well as its contagious melody, a mysterious soprano sax solo, and a climactic ending.
This was written in dedication to the Arlington High School Band Program in Arlington, Texas, and to my former band directors, Michael Hejny, Nathan Burum, and Nathan Hervey.
- Program Note by composer
Media
(Needed - please join the WRP if you can help.)
State Ratings
- MusicFest Canada: B500
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Ithaca (N.Y.) College Wind Ensemble (Daniel Cook, conductor) - 28 October 2023
- Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.) Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Mallory Thompson, conductor) - 13 October 2023
- The Colony (Tx.) High School Wind Symphony (Michael Larkin, conductor) - 27 April 2023 (2023 Dallas Winds Festival)
- University of Mississippi (University, MS) Wind Ensemble (Randy Dale, conductor) - 21 February 2023
- University of Colorado Boulder Symphonic Band (Matthew Dockendorf, conductor) - 9 February 2023
- Spring ISD (Houston, Tx.) Alumni Band (Trent Cooper, conductor) - 22 December 2022 (2022 Midwest Clinic)
- Appalachian State University (Boone, N.C.) Wind Ensemble (T.j. Anderson, conductor) - 4 December 2022
- Toronto (Ont., Can.) Youth Wind Orchestra (Colin Clarke, conductor) - 18 November 2022
- Cleveland State University (Ohio) Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Birch Browning, conductor) – 18 November 2022 (OMEA Districts 4 & 7 Festival 2022)
- Syracuse (N.Y.) University Wind Ensemble (Timothy Diem, conductor) - 15 November 2022
- Wheaton College (Ill.) Symphonic Band (Brady McNeil, conductor) - 7 October 2022
- University of Oklahoma (Norman) Wind Symphony (Tyler Stark, conductor) - 2 October 2022
- University of Illinois (Champaign/Urbana) Wind Symphony (Stephen Peterson, conductor) — 1 May 2022
- Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, Ohio) Symphonic Winds (Ryan Scherber, conductor) – 20 April 2022
- Florida State University (Tallahassee) Wind Orchestra (Richard Clary, conductor) - 20 April 2022
- Luther College (Decorah, Iowa) Concert Band (Cory Near, conductor) - 8 April 2022
- University of California, Los Angeles, (UCLA) Wind Ensemble (Travis J. Cross, conductor) – 2 March 2022
- Texas All-State Concert Band (Richard Mark Heidel, conductor) - 12 February 2022 (2022 TMEA Conference, San Antonio)
- Tarleton State University (Stephenville, Tx.) Wind Ensemble (David Robinson, conductor) – 10 February 2022 (2022 TMEA Conference, San Antonio)
- Texas Christian University (Ft. Worth, Texas) Wind Symphony (Bobby R. Francis, conductor) - 14 April 2016 *Premiere Performance*
Works for Winds by This Composer
Adaptable Music
- Dancing Fire (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Trentadue) (2016/2020)
- Ember Skies (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Trentadue) (2020/2022)
- Havana (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Trentadue) (2018/2020)
- A Hymn for Peace (Flex instrumentation) (2017/2020)
- Lightning Round (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Trentadue) (2022)
- Rocketship! (Flex instrumentation) (2017/2020)
All Wind Works
- All the Day Long (2017)
- Aurora (arr. Trentadue) (2021/2023)
- Christmas in Spain (2016)
- Concerto for Euphonium and Wind Ensemble (2018)
- Concerto for Wind Ensemble (2021)
- Dancing Fire (2016)
- Dancing Fire (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Trentadue) (2016/2020)
- Deep Blue (2022)
- Dual Strides (2022)
- Ecstatic Samba (arr. Trentadue) (2017/2022)
- Ember Skies (2021)
- Ember Skies (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Trentadue) (2020/2022)
- enter data sequence (arr. Trentadue) (2022)
- The Essence of Being (arr. Trentadue) (2021/2022)
- Fantasia for Alto Sax and Marimba (2016)
- Fireworks (2015)
- Flash Fury (2023)
- Galactic Voyage (2018)
- Ignition (2018/2020)
- Havana (2018)
- Havana (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Trentadue) (2018/2020)
- A Hymn for Peace (2017)
- A Hymn for Peace (Flex instrumentation) (2017/2020)
- J.R. (2017)
- Lightning Round (2022)
- Lightning Round (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Trentadue) (2022)
- Metallic Figures
- More than Words... (2020)
- MOTO. See: Symphony Basquiat
- Night Sketches I (2016)
- Nitrous (2020)
- On Shores of Endless Sea (2022)
- Pyrotechnics (2019)
- Requiem for the Unarmed (2020/2022)
- River Memoria (2022)
- Rocketship! (2017)
- Rocketship! (Flex instrumentation) (2017/2020)
- Sangre Royal (2023)
- Shimmering Sunshine (2019). See also: Of Day and Night
- Solace in the Wind (arr. Trentadue) (2020/2023)
- A Song for Tomorrow (2019)
- Summit (2020)
- Symphony Basquiat (2023)
- Tango Oscuro (arr. Trentadue) (2020/2022)
- Unquiet Waters (2020/2023)
- Variation V (arr. Collins) (2020/2022)
- Windborne (2022)
Resources
- Day, K. (2016). Dancing Fire [score]. Murphy Music Press: McKinney, Tx.
- The Horizon Leans Forward…, compiled and edited by Erik Kar Jun Leung, GIA Publications, 2021, p. 310.
- Kevin Day, personal correspondence, May 2016
- Kevin Day website Accessed 15 May 2016