Effulgent Light

From Wind Repertory Project
Donald Grantham

Donald Grantham


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General Info

Year: 2017
Duration: c. 8:25
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Piquant Press
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - Rental


Instrumentation

(Needed - please join the WRP if you can help.)


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

From the composer:

Effulgent Light is inspired by a poem by Hafiz. Daniel Ladinsky, the translator whose renderings of Hafiz were my point of reference, provides the following brief introduction to his life and works:

“Hafiz (1320-1389)...is the most beloved poet of Persians. He was born and lived in Shiraz, a beautiful garden city, where he became a famous spiritual teacher. His Divan (collected poems) is a classic in the literature of Sufism and mystical verse. The work of Hafiz became known to the West largely through the passion of Goethe. His enthusiasm deeply affected Ralph Waldo Emerson, who then translated Hafiz in the nineteenth century. Emerson said of Hafiz, ‘Hafiz is a poet for poets,’ and Goethe remarked, ‘Hafiz has no peer.’ Hafiz’s poems were also admired by such diverse notables as Nietzsche and Arthur Conan Doyle, whose wonderful character Sherlock Homes quotes Hafiz; Garcia Lorca praised him, the famous composer Johannes Brahms was so touched by his verse that he put several lines into compositions, and even Queen Victoria was said to have consulted the works of Hafiz in times of need. The range of Hafiz’s verse is indeed stunning. He says, ‘I am a hole in a flute that the Christ’s breath moves through—listen to this music.” And the music of Hafiz’s poetry is indeed very wide ranging. Frequent themes are both spiritual and carnal love, song, dance, stunted religiosity, and an all-embracing mystical pantheism.”

Below is the poem on which the work is based:

It Was Beautiful One Night

It was beautiful, it was so beautiful one night we all began to expect God would speak
from the waves reaching toward the millet fields,
from the mouths of the hanging sky ornaments crooning in light’s infinite codes,
from the glances of children and plants and hills playing with effulgent life.
It was beautiful, it was so beautiful one night we all began to expect God would speak.

- Program Note from the University of Texas Wind Symphony concert program, 9 December 2018


Media

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State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • University of North Texas (Denton) Wind Orchestra (Robert Truan, conductor) - 8 February 2022
  • Michigan State University (East Lansing) Symphony Band (David Thornton, conductor) – 21 February 2020 (CBDNA 2020 North Central Division Conference, Chicago, Ill.)
  • Michigan State University (East Lansing) Symphony Band (David Thornton, conductor) – 4 February 2020
  • Kennesaw (Ga.) State University Wind Symphony (Debra Traficante, conductor) – 22 April 2019
  • University of Texas (Austin) Wind Symphony (Scott Hanna, conductor) – 9 December 2018
  • McGill University (Montreal, Que.) Wind Orchestra (Alain Cazes, conductor) – 2 November 2018
  • Cedar Park (Tex.) Winds Community Band (Christopher Yee, conductor) - 20 December 2017 (2017 Midwest Clinic)


Works for Winds by This Composer


Resources

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