Jubilance (Giovannini)

From Wind Repertory Project
Cesar Giovannini

Cesar Giovannini (scored Wayne Robinson)


General Info

Year: 1971
Duration: c. 5:45
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Orchestra
Publisher: Sam Fox
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $50.00   |   Score Only (print) - $9.00


Instrumentation

Full Score
Condensed Score
Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
English Horn
Bassoon I-II
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Contrabass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass 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-IV
Trombone I-II
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion I-II, including:

  • Bass Drum
  • Crash Cymbals
  • Glockenspiel
  • Snare Drum I-II
  • Suspended Cymbals
  • Triangle
  • Woodblock (small)
  • Xylophone


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

People of all times and places have experienced both joy and despair; for all of us there have been times of exultation and of depression. Jubilance is Caesar Giovannini's musical portrayal of our happier moments, in uniquely contemporary terms. The music has an insistent drive, a restless energy that speaks especially of the hectic life of the modern world. This impression of unceasing energy is achieved through a lack (though subtle) of a clear structure and by a parade of ideas and themes which hurry by without being logically fulfilled. The one exception to the general restlessness is the broad, singing melody in the middle of the piece, first in the flutes and clarinets and then in the horns and saxophones. The various percussion instruments are also very prominent, serving to give a kinetic, rhythmic thrust that propels the listener through the piece. Jubilance does affirm the optimistic life view. Even in our own day, with all its restlessness and dead ends, man finds reason to rejoice. To rejoice, to jubilate, to energize, each in his own way and for his own reasons.

- Program Note from Program Notes for Band


The concert overture (as opposed to the operatic of theatre overture) is written only for concert performance and usually draws its inspiration from nature (Mendelssohn's "Fingal's Cave"); the graphic arts (Walton's "Portsmouth Point") or from literary sources. "Jubilance" is a concert overture as well but with difference that it is motivated by a complex range of moods which extends from elation and merriment to triumph and celebration.

When a composition is based on such essentially subjective ideas, one needs guidance in discovering influencing forces and for this we can best look to the original creator, the composer. Caesar Giovannini has this to say about the ideas which impelled him to write this overture:

"The work reflects many moods of life today; our restless, impatient, impulsive, energetic existence. Thoughts are never fully brought to completion; new ideas intrude before the previous ones finish."

The composition is sonorous, colorful and with an insistent, rhythmic drive, frequently punctuated by exciting ostinatos.

- Program note printed in score


Media

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State Ratings

  • Alabama: Class A
  • Georgia: IV
  • Michigan: Senior High A
  • Minnesota: II
  • New York: Concert Band V
  • South Carolina: IV
  • Tennessee: III and V
  • Virginia: V


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project


Works for Winds by This Composer


Resources

  • Giovannini, C.; Robinson, W. (1971). Jubilance: An Overture [score]. Sam Fox: Valley Forge, Penn.
  • Smith, Norman E. (2002). Program Notes for Band. Chicago: GIA Publications, pp. 233.