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Four

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Randall Standridge

Randall Standridge


Subtitle: On a Remix of Beethoven


General Info

Year: 2017
Duration: c. 6:25
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Grand Mesa Music Publishers
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $100.00   |   Score Only (print) - $18.00


Instrumentation

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

  • Bass Drum
  • Bells
  • Chimes
  • China Cymbals
  • Crash Cymbals
  • Hi-hat
  • Ratchet
  • Sleigh Bells
  • Snare Drum
  • Splash Cymbal
  • Suspended Crash Cymbal
  • Suspended Cymbal
  • Tambourine
  • Tam-Tam
  • Triangle
  • Vibraphone
  • Whip
  • Wind Chimes
  • Wood Block (2)
  • Xylophone


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

Taking Beethoven’s four-note “fate” motive from the first movement of his fifth symphony, composer Standridge has reimagined the symphony movement and taken it in remarkable new directions. At first following close to the original for a powerful and exciting introduction, the work then segues into a playful gigue in compound meter, followed by a lyrical section with the primary motive presented upside down in horns, much in the spirit of Beethoven’s original. The final section turns up the excitement meter in a 7/8 dance section that caps off this remarkable new take on Beethoven’s Fifth with a bang!

- Program Note from publisher


Since my earliest days as a musician, I have loved the music of the masters. Mozart, J.S. Bach, Tchaikovsky, Copland ... as a teenager, these names held the same place in my heart that my friends had reserved for the pop idols of the day, and none more so than Beethoven. When I received my first CD player (a Walkman!), my parents agreed to buy me one CD. I walked straight to the Classical section of Wal-Mart and found a recording of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony. That evening, alone in my bedroom, I listened to the symphony over and over, lost in Beethoven’s world of gigantic symphonic forces and obsessive use of motive. It left a mark on me as a composer that I am grateful for to this day.

I had been toying around with the idea of using the main motivic idea from the first movement of Symphony No. 5 for quite some time when I received a commission from the Four States Bandmasters Association, a group of music educators from Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana. Given the geographical terrain, it would have been logical to base the piece on Southwestern themes, but I didn’t want to be predictable or to play it safe. Then, I remembered my idea regarding Beethoven’s four-note motive (four states—four notes!), and I knew this was the piece I wanted to write.

Four: On a Remix of Beethoven is divided into four sections: a powerful and exciting introduction, a playful gigue in compound meter, a lyrical third section, and finally an angry dance in 7/8 that leads to the finale. The original symphony is heard twice, early in the work and near the end, but otherwise I have simply taken Beethoven’s four-note motive (sometimes called the “fate motive”) and created new musical ideas based on this one idea.

One final note about this work, though some of you will not believe me. Sometimes an idea takes hold of a composer’s imagination so fervently and so completely that you have no choice but to continue writing. The first draft of Four: On a Remix of Beethoven was written in a feverish bout of inspiration from 8:00 a.m. on January 13th, 2015 and was completed at 4:05 a.m. on January 14th, 2015, roughly a 20-hour period. I simply could not stop. I have, of course, gone back and made some minor tweaks, but I would say 95% of that original draft, written in a burst of joy and inspiration, survived my editing. It was a thrilling moment in my compositional career, and I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the master, whose music continues to inspire and enlighten me to this day.

- Program Note by composer


Media


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


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Works for Winds by This Composer

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