In the Spring at the Time When Kings Go Off to War

David Holsinger

General Info

Year: 1991
Duration: c. 11:42
Difficulty: VI (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Southern Music
Cost: Score and Parts - $325.00 | Score Only - $45.00

Instrumentation

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

Bass Drum
Snare Drum
Chimes
Gong
Marimba
Orchestra Chimes
Suspended Cymbal
Tom-Tom
Triangle
Wind Chimes

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

In the Spring at the Time When Kings Go Off to War was commissioned by the Kappa Kappa Psi Chapter at Stephen F. Austin University, Nacadouches, Texas, in 1985. Premiered under the baton of Bandmaster Mel Montgomery in the spring of 1986, the composition was later declared the winner of the 1986 American Bandmasters Association Ostwald Award.

The composition is based on I Chronicles 20, verses 1 through 3. This short scripture tells of the gathering of King David’s armies under the command of Joab; the legions attack and siege of the land of the Amonites; the subsequent capture and execution of the Ammonite kings; the plunder and slavery of the surviving foe; and the triumphant return of David’s army to Jerusalem.

Using a variety of musical idioms, from diatonic to “sound mass," aleatoric to measured, vocal to synthetic, the composer has woven a tonal picture of the chaos, pathos, triumph, grief, faith, and tragedy. In short, In the Spring, literally portrays programmatically this Old Testament episode.

- Program Note by Concordia University Wind Symphony

Awards

American Bandmasters Association Ostwald Award, winner, 1986

Media

Audio CD: Tokyo Geidai Wind Orchestra (Masaharu Yamamoto, conductor) – 2019
Audio CD: Concordia University Wind Symphony (Richard R. Fischer, conductor)

State Ratings

Alabama: Class AA
Indiana: ISSMA SENIOR BAND GROUP I
Louisiana: V
Minnesota: I
New York: Concert Band VI
North Carolina: VI
South Carolina: VI
Virginia: VI

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Concordia University (Seward, Neb.) Wind Ensemble (Andrew Schultz, conductor) – 1 March 2019
Pearl City (Hi.) High School Symphonic Winds (Chadwick Kamei, conductor) – 9 April 2018
Hartt School of Music Community Division's Capitol Symphonic Winds (Gary Partridge, conductor) - 7 May 2014
Matsudo-Daiyon Junior High School (Japan) - October 2013
"Salesiana del Niño Jesús" Symphonic Band de Bogotá (Col.) (Rogelio Arturo Castro García, conductor) - October 2016

Works for Winds by This Composer

Abram’s Pursuit (1998)
Adagio (2000)
The Adventures of Kid Cam, the Rocketman! (2014)
American Faces (1996)
Ancient Dances (2020)
The Armies of the Omnipresent Otserf (1981)
Army Ants March and Boogie (2005)
At the Strongholds of En Gedi (1996)
Ballet Exaltare (1999)
Ballet Sacra (1990)
Battle Music (1990)
A Call to Celebration (2012)
Canticles! (2001)
The Case of the Mysterious Stranger (1990)
The Chase (2003)
A Childhood Hymn (as arranger) (1862/1991)
City Symphony
- Cityscape I (Festive Hours Neon Night) (2001)
- Cityscape II (Lonely Hours Anguished Night) (2004)
- Cityscape III (Morning Hours Salvation Light) (2008)
The Cluster Bluster Fluster March (1991)
Connacht Rhapsody (2017)
Consider the Uncommon Man (1992)
Deborah's Triumph/Jael's Revenge (2016)
Deerpath Dances (1996)
Divertimented Dances (2006)
The Easter Symphony (1986-1997)
Elegy on an American Folk Tune (2006)
Elegy on an Evening Hymn (2013)
Every Morning New (2002)
Falcon Attack! (2002)
Fanfare for Brass and Timpani (2003)
Fanfare for Such a Time as This (2007)
Fanfare for the Glorious Naycart (2001)
Fantasy on a Gaelic Hymnsong (1999)
Fantasy on Old Hundred (2019)
Festiva Jubiloso (2000)
Festival Music for a Silver Celebration
Fort Canterbury March (1989)
The Gathering of the Ranks at Hebron (1988)
Gears Pulleys Chains (2006)
Gmyway’s Revenge! (1994)
Graysondance (1993)
Gypsydance (1994)
Havendance (1985)
The Helm Toccata (1991)
Hero Music (2005)
Homage: Three Tapestries (1999)
Hopak Raskolniki (1980)
If You Must Doodle, Doodle Somewhere Else (1990)
In Praise of Gentle Pioneers (1996)
In the Spring at the Time When Kings Go Off to War (1991)
A Jolly Walk in Hibbertland (1991)
Kaylen Dreaming (2006)
Kansas City Dances (1978)
L'Arco della Vita (2021)
Lake Canterbury Regatta (1993)
Last Run (2020)
A Little Adventure Music (2002)
Little Fantasy on an American Hymn (2009)
A Little Mystery Music (1996)
Liturgical Dances (1984)
The Maelstrom (2009)
The March of the Combat Patrol (1991)
March of the Grand High Poobah (2006)
March on a Russian Hymnsong (2003)
Mobbusters! (1994)
Nilesdance (1987)
On a Childhood Sunday Song (2004)
On a Hymnsong of Lowell Mason (1990)
On a Hymnsong of Philip Bliss (1989)
On a Hymnsong of Robert Lowry (1993)
On a Southern Hymnsong (1993)
On an American Spiritual (1991)
On Ancient Hymns and Festal Dances (1988)
On the Cul-de-sac, Three O’clock, Friday Afternoon (1999)
On the Grand Prairie Texas (1989)
On the Overland Stage to El Paso (2006)
One Day in a Small Town (2004)
Otserf II : Revenge of the Warrior Prince (2009)
Partita Allegro (1997)
The Peasant Village Dance (1990)
Praises! (2001)
Prairie Dances (1998)
Prelude and Presto (2018)
Prelude and Rondo (1976)
The Pride of Buxmont (2000)
Providence Unfinished (2002)
Quiet River (2011)
Reagan of Illinois (2011)
Reagan of Illinois Part II (2013)
Riding With the Frontier Battalion (2000)
Scaling the North Wall (1990)
Scootin’ on Hardrock (1999)
Scrappy Bumptoe’s Picture Cards and Ragtag Diary (1981)
Sinfonia Voci (1993)
Solemn Hymn & Rowdy Dance (2010)
Soliloquy (2020)
Some Give All (2016)
A Song of Moses (1999)
Summer to Fall: A Love Song (2006)
Symphonia Glorioso (2006)
Symphonic Movement (2000)
Texas Promenade (1999
Til His Hand Grew Tired and Froze to the Sword (2004)
To Live a Life Triumphant (2007)
To Tame the Perilous Skies (1990)
Von Grrrhart’s 613th Regimental March (1994)
The War Trilogy: 1971 (1999)
The White Rose (as arranger) (1917/)
Zinphonia (2017)

Resources

David Holsinger website Accessed 29 August 2021
Holsinger, D. (1991). In the Spring at the Time When Kings Go Off to War: For Symphonic Band [score]. Southern Music: San Antonio, Tex.