Grand Spiral

From Wind Repertory Project
Chinary Ung

Chinary Ung


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Subtitle: Desert Flowers Bloom


General Info

Year: 1990
Duration: c. 13:00
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Edition Peters
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - Rental   |   Score Only (print) - $120.50


Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II-III
Oboe I-II
English Horn
Bassoon I-II
Contrabassoon
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
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-III
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Celesta
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV

(percussion detail desired)


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

Ung says that there is not really an easily identifiable concept behind the spiral compositions, other than the structural use of antiphonal musical spirals that tend to regenerate themselves in one way or another. He describes the process as “a certain set of notes...recalled in succession to form newer and newer phrases—therefore extending not only the length, but also creating a ‘spin-off’ energy of notes in a spiral manner.” A similar kind of spiral process, used on a larger scale, restates certain passages in an alternative fashion “to generate a kind of formal structure by relying constantly on the previous passages to push forward in a type of ‘spiral’ form.”

Grand Spiral has a striking poetic form, this time taken from a visual image. “The source of inspiration,” Ung wrote, “was the imagery of a translucent piece of sculpture that is constantly moving and rotating while reflecting sunlight, as perhaps a prism would. One can choose to see an artistic reality according to the time of the day and the varied positioning of the sculpture.” Ung says that in the process of writing the score he tried to imagine how the perpetual changing of visual colors could relate to gradations of instrumental color.

The result is a work that is always changing, always shimmering, always sonically and texturally elusive, turning back around and on itself in ways the listener more likely intuits than actually identifies. Perhaps, the model is not a musical structure or a cultural heritage, an emotional and spiritual state. Ung seems to say as much when he explains: “My philosophy is to explore my inner rhythms and feelings before I say it directly.”

- Program Note by Mark Swed for Arizona State University Symphonic Band CD Grand Spiral


Grand Spiral was premiered at the Fifty-seventh American Bandmasters Association National Convention in Tempe, Arizona, by the Arizona State University Symphonic Band on March 7, 1991.


Media

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State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • Arizona State University (Tempe) Symphonic Band – 7 March 1991 (57th American Bandmasters Association National Convention, Tempe, Ariz.) *Premiere Performance*


Works for Winds by This Composer


Resources

  • The Horizon Leans Forward…, compiled and edited by Erik Kar Jun Leung, GIA Publications, 2021, p. 503.
  • Ung, C. (1990). Grand Spiral: For Symphonic Band [score]. C.F. Peters: New York, N.Y.