Flight of the Piasa

Robert Sheldon

Robert Sheldon

General Info

Year: 2008
Duration: c. 5:10
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Alfred Music Publishing
Cost: Score and Parts - $75.00   |   Score Only - $10.00

Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe
Bassoon
Bb Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
Bb Bass Clarinet
Eb Alto Saxophone I-II
Bb Tenor Saxophone
Eb Baritone Saxophone
Bb Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium (Bass Clef & Treble Clef)
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion I-II, including:

• Bass Drum
• Snare Drum
• Crash Cymbals
• Suspended Cymbal
• Tambourine
• Triangle
• Wind Chimes

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Commissioned by the Alton High School Band, Alton, Illinois, David W. Drillinger, director.

- Program Note from score

Flight of the Piasa was written to depict the majesty of the legendary Piasa, an enormous winged creature, and the bravery of the Illini tribe who triumphed over its reign of terror. The discovery of the Piasa dates to 1673, when the cliff drawing painted high on the bluffs was first seen by Marquette during his famous journey down the Mississippi River.

- Program Note by publisher

The Piasa or Piasa Bird is a Native American dragon depicted in one of two murals painted by Native Americans on bluffs (cliffsides) above the Mississippi River. The name Piasa may also have been derived from the Native American Miami Illinois word páyiihsa (cf. Anishinaabe: apa'iins(ag), "little people(s)"). This was their name for small, supernatural dwarves said to attack travelers. Local claims that the word "Piasa" meant "the bird that devours men" or "bird of the evil spirit" are not accurate nor based in the Illinois language.

- Program Note from Wikipedia

Commercial Discography

• Audio CD: Osaka Municipal Symphonic Band (Gyochi Yoshida, conductor) – 2009

Media Links

• Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

• Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School Concert Winds (Brecksville, Ohio) (Tricia Asley, conductor) – 25 January 2020 (Severance Hall, Cleveland)
• Casco Bay Wind Symphony (Portland, Me.) (Peter Martin, conductor) – 8 June 2019
• College of the Sequoias (Visalia, Calif.) Concert Band (Michael Tackett, conductor) -15 March 2019 (2019 Sutherland Wind Festival (Fresno, Calif.)
• Cheshire (Conn.) High School Symphonic Band (John L. Kuhner, conductor) – 18 December 2018
• University of California, Santa Barbara, Wind Ensemble (Cynthia Vong, conductor) – 30 November 2017
• Williamsburg (Va.) Concert Band (Brian Worsdale, conductor) – 26 September 2013

Works for Winds by this Composer

Adaptable Music

• Pevensey Castle (Flex instrumentation) (1993/2012)
• West Highlands Sojourn (Flex instrumentation) (1993/2014)

All Wind Works

• An American Hymntune (as arranger) (2004)
• Appalachian Legacy (1995)
• Appalachian Morning (2008)
• Armenian Anthem
• Art in the Park (2008)
• As a Wind from the North (2006)
• As Twilight Falls (2011)
• An Australian Sea Ballad (2011)
• Awakened Like the Morn
• Barrier Reef
• Bayside Portrait, A
• Bellefonte Overture
• Bermuda Triangle, The
• Beyond the Higher Skies (1999)
• Beyond the Riverbend (2013)
• Big Brass on Patrol
• Black Is the Color... (2009)
• Blaze of Glory
• Blessed Legacy (as arranger) (2019)
• The Blue Ridge (as arranger) (2017)
• Bounty Hunter from "Advent Rising"
• Bright Auroral Skies
• Bright Lights! (2015)
• Bristol Bay Legend
• Brule River Celebration
• Cape Fear Chronicles
• Cataclysm (2018)
• Carol of Two Mangers, A
• Celebration and Song (2009)
• Cellular Symphony
• Century Point
• Chanteys (2000)
• Charleston Harbor Celebration
• Chiaroscuro (2002)
• Child's Lullaby, A (2016)
• Chimney Rock Celebration (2017)
• Choreography (2009)
• Christmas Couplet, A
• Christmastimes Three
• Coldwater Creek
• Commemoration
• Conundrum
• Corsairs Landing, The
• Crazy for Cartoons (2011)
• Crest of Nobility
• Crossings, The
• Danse Celestiale (1989)
• Danzas Cubanas (2010)
• Daydreams (Sheldon) (2013)
• Der Lehrmeister (2017)
• Divertimento
• Dorian Dreamscape
• Eagle Mountain Overture
• Edifice (2014)
• El Rey de Fransia (2003)
• El Taco Picante (2017)
• Falcon Lake Overture
• Fall River Overture
• Fanfare and Intermezzo (1998)
• Fantasy on an Early American Marching Tune
• Final Voyage, The
• Fires of Bandai, The (2014)
• Flight of the Piasa (2008)
• Four Winds
• Garden of the Black Rose
• Gently I Wander (2017)
• Gently Touch the Sky
• Ghost Fleet (2001)
• Golden Panther March
• "Halo Suite" from Video Games Live
• Harbinger (2015)
• Hill Country Holiday
• Holiday Sleigh Ride
• Iberian Escapades (2009)
• Images (Sheldon)
• Infinite Horizons
• In the Center Ring (2003)
• In the Shining of the Stars (1996)
• In This Quiet Place
• Integrity
• Intrada for Winds
• Intrepid Journey (2015)
• Irish Air, An
• Irish Ballade, An
• Joyful Journey, A
• Korobochka
• A Lantern in the Window (1998)
• Legend of Starved Rock
• Let Evening Come
• Lindbergh Variations
• Lion's Gate (2019)
• A Longford Legend (1999)
• Lords of Greenwich, The
• Lost Colony
• Lost in Mammoth Cave
• Lydian Lullaby (2006)
• Manatee Lyric Overture
• Maqamat
• March Ceremonial
• March of the Majestics
• March Mixolydian
• Mark of Triumph
• Melody Park (2014)
• The Message on the Rock (2004)
• Metroplex (2006)
• The Monster Under the Bed (2005)
• Moravian Folk Rhapsody (2004/2008)
• Morning Mist (2012)
• Most Wonderful Christmas, A (1934/2006)
• Mystery of Duffy's Cut, The
• Mystic Journey
• Noel Francais
• Northwest Rising
• Ocean Ridge Rhapsody
• Of Kindred Spirit
• On Placid Seas (2015)
• Once the Man
• One Thousand Cranes
• Oracles of the Sirocco (2018)
• Overdrive (2015)
• Overture to a New Horizon (2014)
• Palimpsest
• Paragon
• Patriotic Salute
• Patriotic Snippets
• Pevensey Castle (1993)
• Pevensey Castle (Flex instrumentation) (1993/2012)
• Phantom of Dark Hollow, The (2006)
• Phrygian Phantasy
• Pioneer's Passage, The
• The Pioneers
• Pop Culture (2007)
• Praeludium and Dance
• A Prairie Portrait (2006)
• Prairiescape
• Prelude on an Old English Hymn (2000)
• Prevail! (2016)
• Pride of the Grenadiers
• Pursuit of the Centaur (2016)
• Quixotic Episode
• Red Covered Bridge, The (2014)
• Red Rock Canyon
• Requiem to a Land Forgotten
• Resurgences (2013)
• Rhapsodic Celebration (2011)
• Ritmico!
• River Trail Expedition
• Riverside Overture (2019)
• Rock Island Trail
• Sag Harbor Sunset (2011)
• Sandcastle Sketches
• Savannah River Rhapsody
• Scandinavian Folk Tale, A
• Scottish Ballade, A
• Shenandoah (arr. Sheldon) (2003)
• Siege of Harlech Castle, The
• Silver Spring Soliloquy
• Simple Celebration, A (2001)
• Skydance (2018)
• Sound Innovations Fanfare (2010)
• Southwest Saga
• Spirit Lake Overture
• The Spirit of Killian Hill (2007)
• Spirit of Thanksgiving, The (2014)
• Star Bright (2018)
• The Stormchasers (2012)
• Storybrook Mountain
• Sugar Creek Overture
• The Swords of Stavanger (2009)
• Symphonic Narrative, A
• Synergies
• Tales of Dundee
• There Will Come Soft Rains
• Three Carols for a Celebration
• Three Georgian Vignettes (2008)
• Three Miniatures for Winds and Percussion
• Timberline Overture
• To Conquer the Skies
• Travelin' Music (2016)
• Variants on a Sea Shanty (as arranger) (2014)
• Variants on a Union Hymn
• Velocity
• Visions of Flight
• Voices from the Battlefield
• Wallaby Walkabout
• Welsh Ayres and Dances
• West Highlands Sojourn (1993)
• West Highlands Sojourn (Flex instrumentation) (1993/2014)
• Willow Grove
• Winds of Morocco
• Windward Overture (2016)
• With Every Sunrise (2016)

Resources

• Sheldon, R. (2008). Flight of the Piasa [score]. [s.l.]: Alfred Publishing.
• Piasa, Wikipedia