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Hereafter Calls
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Contents
General Info
Year: 2013
Duration: c. 7:00
Difficulty: VI (soloists); III (ensemble) (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: RBC Publications
Cost: Score and Parts - $85.00 | Score Only - $15.00
Instrumentation
Full Score
Flute I-II
Oboe
Bassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
Solo Trumpet I-II
B-flat Trumpet I-II
Solo Horn
Horn in F II-III
Trombone I-II
Euphonium
Tuba
Percussion
(percussion detail desired)
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
A play on words ("calls" functions as both noun and verb), the piece follows a dialogue between heavenly counsel (three soloists: two trumpets and one horn) and a grieving hero contemplating overwhelming loss (the wind ensemble). Though the central melodic idea of the piece is one of hope amidst immense great sadness (Do Fa Mi Re Sol Ti Sol La), there is almost always present uplifting melodic material ascribed to our angelic soloists (a hymn tune: Mi Sol Do Mi Fa La Sol) and, in one form or another, a supporting pedal, giving our hero ground on which to stand or, if he chooses, move forward.
Our soloists begin offstage and out of sight, offering fanfares of hope against a pedal E-flat in low winds and brass, calling a saddened hero out of grief, however dissonant such a reconciliation may feel. As they visibly transcend the boundary between the heavenly and tangible (amidst calls reminiscent of Mahler's First, which he dubbed “the cry of a wounded heart"), the ensemble proclaims the hero’s sorrow in the horns and alto winds, clamoring for hope in the guise of a massive half cadence of B-flat major. From here the piece follows a dialogical construct, our hero conversing with his spiritual guides, always in the form of prayer from the hero (i.e., the chant-like section in baritone winds and brasses) and countenance from the trio (the soloists unified in their chorale, almost scripture-like responses).
After calls and responses between hero and spirits, and upon acceptance of what has been lost, our hero grieves his lost one last time, slowly and solemnly in the horns and clarinets. The soloists respond from a distance as they retreat once again to the hereafter, gently consoling all of us in their pleas of eternal hope and happiness. As the trio disappears amidst the transcendental haze of scales in two vibraphones, we are reminded not only of our humanity, but also the sense that, whether we can see it or not, the hereafter is always around us and is always with us.
A final plagal “Amen” cadence sees us to the end, and as the remnants of our heavenly counsel fade to nothing, we are reminded again to always continue on with a spirit of faith, hope and love.
-Program Note by Stephen Meyer for the Clear Creek High School Wind Ensemble concert program, 20 December 2013
Commercial Discography
- Audio CD: Clear Lake High School Wind Ensemble -2013
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- University of British Columbia (Vancouver) Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Robert Taylor, conductor; Valerie Whitney, horn; Larry Knopp, trombone) – 29 March 2019
- Clear Creek High School (League City, Tex.) Wind Ensemble (Stephen Meyer, conductor; Michael Martin, trumpet; Christopher Martin, trumpet; Jeff Nelson, French horn) - 20 December 2013 (2013 Midwest Clinic)
Works for Winds by this Composer
- The Bridge that Hangs from the Sky (2019)
- Canción de España
- El Aparecido
- Festive Overture (as arranger) (1954/2016?)
- Hereafter Calls (2013)
- Heroes and Villians (2015)
- Lontano (2016)
- Lontano (ed. Galus) (2016/2020)
- twisted
- Zero to Sixty! (2015)
