El Simbolo Zia

BJ Brooks

BJ Brooks

General Info

Year: 2012 / 2018
Duration: c. 10:30
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: TRN
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $80.00   |   Score Only (print) - $12.00

Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute I-II
Oboe
Bassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone (divisi)
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion, including:

• Bass Drum
• Bells
• Marimba
• Vibraphone

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

El Símbolo Zía, like so much of New Mexico, is a mixture of diverse elements. The Zía symbol is the perfect focus for a work dedicated to one hundred years of statehood for New Mexico. The icon, a red circle with four lines on the top, bottom, left and right and its symbolism, four directions, four seasons, four parts of the day and the four ages of life unify the piece in a significant and meaningful way.

El Símbolo Zía is in four distinct sections, each representing a part of the Zía symbol. Each of these sections use a ternary (ABA) form to further suggest the cyclical nature of the Zía. In addition, a sort of theme and variations is in play in the chord structure at the end of each section further unifying the piece as a whole and symbolizing that each of us is unified by the elements suggested by the Zía as in the Latin phrase “idem sed non eodem modo” (always the same but not in the same way).

Old, new; exotic, familiar; plains, mountains; hot, cold; lush, desert; rainy, dry; low, high; pines, grass; multiple languages; mixed cultures; four parts of the day; four directions; four seasons; four ages; ONE - NEW MEXICO.

- Program Note from publisher

Commissioned by New Mexico Phi Beta Mu for the 2012 NMMEA All-State Festival Intercollegiate Band

- Program Note from score

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

• East New Mexico University (Portales) Alumni Concert Band (B.J. Brooks, conductor) - 2012

Works for Winds by This Composer

• Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond (2009)
• The Butterfly Chaser (2016)
• Cadence (2009)
• Caprice (2013)
• The Centennial March (2010)
• Cold Fusion (2015)
• El Símbolo Zía (2012/2018)
• Endurance
• The Essence of Memory (2022)
• The Freshman
• Legacy
• Persist (2020)
• Phoenix (2011)
• The Standard: ENMU 75th (2010)
• Strange Loops (2022)
• Symphony No. 3 (2019)
• The Tempest's March
• The Wild Atlantic Way (2020)
• The Willows of Winter (2005)
• Windrider (2007)

Resources

• BJ Brooks website Accessed 28 March 2020
• Brooks, B. [2018]. El Simbolo Zia [score]. TRN Music Publisher: [Alto, N.M.]
• "New Music Reviews." The Instrumentalist 74.4 (November 2019): 27. Print
• Perusal score