Floodgates of the Sky, The
Josh Trentadue (trans. Harrison J Collins)
General Info
Year: 2016 / 2020
Duration: c. 5:00
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: T.U.X. People's Music
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $115.00 | Score Only (print) - $30.00
Instrumentation
Full Score
Piccolo I
Flute I-II (I doubles Piccolo II)
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet I-II
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
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
Double Bass
Piano
Timpani
Percussion, including:
- Bass Drum
- Crash Cymbals
- Field Drum
- Glockenspiel
- Marimba
- Snare Drum
- Suspended Cymbal
- Tam-Tam
- Tom-Toms (medium, low)
- Triangle
- Vibraphone
- Xylophone
Errata
In score
At any instance that the three flute players are divided into single staves, the naming structure is incorrect. The first player should always be Piccolo I, the second and third players Flute I and II. In addition, Flute I doubles Piccolo II from measures 56 to 85; this should be indicated on the score.
Program Notes
The Floodgates of the Sky takes its title from the book of Genesis in the Holy Bible. Specifically, the verse is as follows: "In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened" (Genesis 7:11, NASV).
Although I don't consider myself to be a very religious person today, I had spent much of my early childhood years going to church with my family and studying the Scripture. I have always been fascinated with the more epic qualities of the Bible, entranced by its striking imagery juxtaposed with the elements of its serious teachings. For me, it is almost impossible to imagine the wrath unleashed when, at certain points in the Bible, the people go against the word of God and continue to sin. These memories led me back to one well-known story of the Bible, one which ultimately became the foundation for this piece -- Noah's Ark.
Here, I chose to focus on one particular moment of the story. Noah has just completed the ark, with two of each and every animal on board. He and his family have also boarded this vessel, in anticipation of God's intent to flood the earth of every living thing. Although He will protect Noah, his family, and everything else on the ark, the wrath of His oncoming storm is vicious and merciless. Panic, terror, and fear ensues upon the earth as everyone left behind begins to suffer His wrath. Their cries and pleas are ignored by God, who is tired of humanity's inherent wickedness. In the end, after 40 days and 40 nights, He stops the flood and promises that such a storm will never occur again, symbolically represented in the form of a rainbow.
The wrath of this storm, along with the imagination of the sheer savagery behind it, became the emotional foundation for The Floodgates of the Sky. An ostinato drives the storm, accompanied by alarming brass, sweeping woodwind figures, bombastic percussion, and constant rhythmic activity. Emotional moments that appear within the music are even swept away by this incessant, percussive energy.
This work cannot encompass the true horror of this singular moment within the Bible. But perhaps it can capture an inkling of what happens in the story, realizing that after the worst of the flood is over, a promise will be made and all good things will come from it.
- Program Note by composer
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Media
Performances
None discovered thus far.
Works for Winds by This Composer
Adaptable Music
- Anthem for All (2020/2023)
- Comets Ablaze! (Flex instrumentation) (2020/2022)
- Dancing Fire (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (2016/2020)
- Ember Skies (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (2020/2022)
- The Floodgates of the Sky (Flex instrumentation) (2016/2021)
- The Golden Pier (Flex instrumentation) (2019/2020)
- The Great River Rapid Chase (Flex instrumentation) (2018/2020)
- Havana (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (2018/2020)
- Kaleidoscopic Dances (Flex instrumentation) (2020/2021)
- Lightning Round (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (2022)
- Meditation and Hymn to Nature (Flex instrumentation) (2021)
- Mt. Wrightson March (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Trentadue) (2019/2023)
- O rose of May (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (2018/2020)
- Raindrops in an endless sea of stars (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
- Seven Islands (Flex instrumentation) (2020/2022)
- Splendid Ridges (Flex instrumentation) (2020/2022)
- The Straits of Mackinac (Flex instrumentation) (2017/2020)
- To Right Our Wrongs (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (2021)
All Wind Works
- Anthem for All (Flex instrumentation) (2020/2023)
- Anthem for All (2020)
- Anthem for Doomed Youth (2018)
- Aurora (as arranger) (2021/2023)
- Autumn Verses (as arranger) (2023)
- Celestial Voyage (2015)
- Comets Ablaze! See: The Grand Ledge Triptych
- Concerto for Double Bass and Chamber Ensemble (2018)
- Crystal Oscillation (2022)
- Dancing Fire (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (2016/2020)
- Ecstatic Samba (as arranger) (2017/2022)
- Electric City (as arranger) (2019/2022)
- Ember Skies (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (2020/2022)
- enter data sequence (as arranger) (2022)
- The Essence of Being (as arranger) (2021/2022)
- Flightless Bird (as arranger) (2021/2022)
- The Floodgates of the Sky (tr. Collins) (2016/2020)
- The Floodgates of the Sky (Flex instrumentation) (2016/2021)
- The Golden Pier. See: The Michigan Triptych
- The Great River Rapid Chase. See: The Michigan Triptych
- Havana (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (2018/2020)
- Hilltop Run (2022)
- Kaleidoscopic Dances (2020)
- Kaleidoscopic Dances (Flex instrumentation) (2020/2021)
- Lightning Round (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (2022)
- Meditation and Hymn to Nature (2021/2023)
- Meditation and Hymn to Nature (Flex instrumentation) (2021)
- The Grand Ledge Triptych
- Splendid Ridges (2020)
- Splendid Ridges (Flex instrumentation) (2020/2022)
- Seven Islands (2020)
- Seven Islands (Flex instrumentation) (2020/2022)
- Comets Ablaze! (2020)
- Comets Ablaze! (Flex instrumentation) (2020/2022)
- The Michigan Triptych
- The Great River Rapid Chase (2018)
- The Great River Rapid Chase (Flex instrumentation) (2018/2020)
- The Golden Pier (2019)
- The Golden Pier (Flex instrumentation) (2019/2020)
- The Straits of Mackinac (2017)
- The Straits of Mackinac (Flex instrumentation) (2017/2020)
- Midnight Skyline (2019). See also: Of Day and Night
- Mt. Wrightson March (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Trentadue) (2019/2023)
- O rose of May (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger) (2018/2020)
- Nature's Light (2019)
- Pumpkin Madness (2023)
- Raindrops in an endless sea of stars (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
- Seven Islands. See: The Grand Ledge Triptych
- Solace in the Wind (as arranger) (2020/2023)
- Splendid Ridges. See: The Grand Ledge Triptych
- The Straits of Mackinac. See: The Michigan Triptych
- Summertime Echoes (2019)
- Symphony No. 2. See: Pumpkin Madness
- Tango Oscuro (as arranger) (2020/2022)
- Tombstone Galop (as arranger) (2021/2022)
- The Undiscovered Country (2018)
- Volcanic Interruptions (as arranger) (2021/2022)
- A Wild Christmas Nightcap (2020)
- with hope and resilience (2022/2023)