Florence & Alice

Erika Svanoe

General Info

Year: 2021
Duration: c. 4:50
Difficulty: III (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Swan Maiden Press
Cost: Score and Parts (digital) - $50.00 (print) - $60.00

Instrumentation

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

Bass Drum
Bells
Ride Cymbal
Snare Drum
Suspended Cymbal
Triangle
Xylophone

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Florence and Alice Leduc were sisters who founded and ran Hastings Needle Work out of their home in Hastings, Minn. from 1888 to 1922. The story of these two young women who used their creativity and needlepoint skills to create a successful business during a time when this was quite atypical for women was very inspiring. I thought this would be a good topic to explore for a concert celebrating women given in Hastings, Minnsorta, where the Leduc sisters lived and worked. The opening melody spells their names/initials F A LEDUC = F Ab A E D C C (A=Ab, L=A or "la" in solfege, U=C using an older solfege system that replaces "do" with "ut"). The opening melody is bold and celebratory, reflecting the success at starting and running a business at a time when that was not typically done by women. The middle section I think of more as the "needlepoint section" with lots of melodies (threads), a rhythm of "short-long" that reflects the rhythm of "poke-pull" used when doing needlepoint, and the metallic, sharp sounds of cymbal and triangle that seem needle-like to me. Repeated notes and the overall feel I hope reflect the actual doing of work, and the repetitive nature of laying stitch after stitch.

- Program Note by composer

Media

Audio: Reference recording. Note performer realization

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

River Valley Band (Hastings, Minn.) (Tom Maeck, conductor) - 10 March 2022 *Premiere Performance*

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

Mary Shelley Meets Frankenstein (Flex instrumentation) (2014/2020)
Steampunk Scenes (Flex instrumentation) (2015/2021)

All Wind Works

Band of Heroes (2018)
Baskerville (2019)
Category 4 (2021)
Claremont Triumphant (2011)
Clocktower Fanfare (2016)
Echoes (2018)
El Salon Mexico (as arranger) (2009)
First Suite Fanfare (2020)
Florence & Alice (2021)
Four Grainger Songs (as arranger) (2003)
The Haunted Carousel (2015)
A Journey in Time (2020)
Mary Shelley Meets Frankenstein (2014/2019)
Mary Shelley Meets Frankenstein (Flex instrumentation) (2014/2019/2020)
She Dares, She Leaps (2022)
Springtime Ride (2018)
Steampunk Scenes (Flex instrumentation) (2015/2021)
Steampunk Suite (2015/2017)
Symphony in Blue & Gold (2023)
The Town Band (2022)
Tutued Toucan Can-Can (2021)
Where no one has gone before (2023)

Resources

Erika Svanoe website Accessed 13 July 2022
Perusal score