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History's Whispers
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Subtitle: Fanfare in Blue
General Info
Year: 2020
Duration: c. 3:35
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Myrmecoid Music
Cost: Score and Parts - Contact composer
Instrumentation
Full Score
Solo Euphonium
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone I-II
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
Piano
Harp
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III
(percussion detail desired)
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
On the monumental occasion of the 100th birthday celebration of Paul R. Bryan (affectionately known to all close to him as “P.B.”), my departmental colleague, the celebrated wind ensemble director Verena Mösenbichler-Bryant asked if I’d write a new composition. I was grateful and honored to be asked, since P.B. has been such a significant part of my life for so long. He was my undergraduate mentor who allowed me to experience one of his coveted, life-changing study-abroad programs touring Vienna, Austria, with the Duke Wind Symphony. And even beyond graduation, he’s been one of the most cherished and remarkable friends anyone could ever imagine. P.B.’s Wind Symphony, and all of the camaraderie therein, served as the origin story of most of my best friends in life as well.
I composed a “fanfare in blue” because recently P.B. and I have enjoyed some conversations about blues and vernacular music, and since the premiere will happen on the last day of Black History month, I figured a touch of 12-bar-blues might add a bit of texture to the event. I also endowed the piece with special codings throughout: The first instruments we hear are the euphonium and string bass [the instruments of P.B. and that of his beloved wife and Duke legend, Dean Virginia Bryan]. I wrote a piece 200 seconds in length, with the second half containing an epically heroic 100-note blues solo for the euphonium. The tempo of the piece is the quarter note at 100.
The side drum obsessively articulates a reference to a march that P.B. composed with one of his friends. P.B. is a musicologist who chose not to champion one of the typical giants of classical music, but instead focused his work on a now authoritative book covering the lesser-known, but nonetheless artistically brilliant composer, Johann Baptist Wanhal. Bryan’s musicological work on this composer’s life and music has been tireless and revelatory, and reminds us that sometimes the most sublime treasures dwell beyond the obvious and reveal themselves through the whispers of history.
- Program Note by composer
Media
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Duke University (Durham, N.C.) Wind Symphony (Verena Mösenbichler-Bryant, conductor) - 9 April 2022
- Duke University (Durham, N.C.) Wind Symphony (Verena Mösenbichler-Bryant, conductor) – 29 February 2020 *Premiere Performance*
Works for Winds by This Composer
- Caprice for Band (1987)
- History's Whispers (2020)
Resources
Anthony Kelley, personal correspondence, October 2022