Kingfishers Catch Fire

John Mackey

General Info

Year: 2007
Duration: c. 11:05
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: John Mackey
Cost: Score and Parts (Rental) - $375.00 | Score (Purchase) - $60.00

Movements

1. Following falls and falls of rain - 4:55
2. Kingfishers catch fire - 5:25

Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute I-II-III (III doubling piccolo)
Oboe
Bassoon
Contrabassoon
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III-IV
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
Soprano Saxophone
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpets I-II-III-IV
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba (2 players preferred)
Piano
String Bass
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV-V-VI, including:

Bass Drum
Crash Cymbals (3 suspended)
Crotales
Glockenspiel
Gong (or Tam-tam)
Marimba
Triangle
Tubular Bells
Vibraphone
Xylophone

Errata

In Score:

There is a piano part in the second movement, but it is not indicated on the instrumentation page of the score.

In Parts:

Chimes, mvt. 2, m.192: First note of grace note group should be a B-flat and not an A.

Program Notes

A kingfisher is a bird with beautiful, brilliantly colored feathers that look in sunlight as if they are on fire. Kingfishers are extremely shy birds and are rarely seen, but when they are seen, they are undeniably beautiful.

The first movement, Following Falls and Falls of Rain, is suspended in tone, but with hope, depicting the kingfisher slowly emerging from its nest in the early morning stillness, just after a heavy rain storm. The second movement, Kingfishers Catch Fire," imagines the bird flying out into the sunlight.

The work features optional antiphonal trumpets placed behind the audience. The trumpet solo in the first movement is played from the back of the hall, and the trumpet flourishes in the second movement are played by the antiphonal trumpet choir. You may catch the reference to Stravinsky's Firebird at the end of the piece.

Kingfishers Catch Fire was commissioned by Kentaro Hino (Hikarigaoka Girls' High School), Mamoru Nakata (Wind Ensemble du Nord), Masafumi Matsumoto (Okayama Sanyo High School), Kotai Yo (Wind Ensemble "KANADE"), Toshiya Iwata (Kawasaki University of Medical Welfare "Heartful Winds"), Taizo Okuyama (Wind Ensemble Soleil), and Shintaro Fukumoto (Community Band of Sagamihara). Consortium organized by Mamoru Nakata.

The work was premiered on March 17, 2007, JWECC '07 Special Band, conducted by Ichiro Saito.

- Program Note by composer

Awards

Kingfishers Catch Fire has been recommended as interesting, serious and distinctive music by members of the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE).

Media

Audio: Reference recording. University of Texas Wind Ensemble (Jerry Junkin, conductor)
Audio CD: Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Wind Symphony (John Raymond Bell, conductor) – 2011
Audio CD: Tokyo Geidai Wind Orchestra (Masaharu Yamamoto, conductor) – 2018

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Baylor University (Waco, Tx.) Symphonic Band (Isaiah Odajima, conductor) - 11 October 2021
Milton (Ga.) High School Wind Ensemble (Chris Shumick, conductor) – 19 January 2020
Hikarigaoka Girls High School (Okazaka, Japan) Winds (Kentaro Hino, conductor) – 19 December 2019 (2019 Midwest Clinic)
University of Illinois (Champaign) Wind Orchestra (Beth Peterson, conductor) – 4 December 2019>
University of Georgia (Athens) Hodgson Wind Symphony (Jaclyn Hartenberger, conductor) – 18 September 2019
Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta) (Symphonic Band) (Benjamin J. Diden, conductor) – 14 April 2019
Metropolitan Wind Symphony (Lexington, Mass). (Louis J. Buckley, conductor) – 3 March 2019
Illinois State University (Normal) Symphonic Winds (Anthony Marinello, III, conductor) – 15 February 2019
Boston (Mass.) College University Wind Ensemble (Sebastian Bonaiuto, conductor) – 4 November 2018
West Virginia University (Morgantown) Wind Symphony (Stephen Lytle, conductor) – 29 October 2018
Atlanta (Ga.) Wind Symphony (David Kehler, conductor) – 12 May 2018
Senzoku White Tie Wind Ensemble ((Kawasaki, Japan) (Jerry Junkin, conductor) – 3 December 2017
Messiah College (Mechanicsburg, Penn.) Wind Ensemble (James Colonna, conductor) – 3 November 2017
Appalachian State University (Boone, N.C.) Wind Ensemble (John Stanley Ross, conductor) – 25 April 2017
Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, Md.) Peabody Wind Ensemble (Harland D. Parker, conductor) – 10 December 2016
Duke University (Durham, N.C.) Wind Symphony (Verena Mösenbichler-Bryant, conductor) – 17 November 2016
Kennesaw (Ga.) State University Wind Symphony (Debra Traficante, conductor) – 14 November 2016
JWECC '07 Special Band (Ichiro Saito, conductor) – 17 March 2007; Kurashiki, Japan *Premiere Performance*

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

Let Me Be Frank with You (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
Night on Fire (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Ambrose) (2013/2021)
Sheltering Sky (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Dunnigan) (2012/2020)
Strange Humors (Flex instrumentation) (2006/2020)
This Cruel Moon (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Dunnigan) (2017/2020)

All Wind Works

Antique Violences (2017)
Asphalt Cocktail (2009)
Aurora Awakes (2009)
Clocking (2007)
Concerto for Soprano Sax and Wind Ensemble (2007)
Damn (1998)
Drum Music: Concerto for Percussion (2011)
Fanfare For Full Fathom Five (2015)
Foundry (2011)
The Frozen Cathedral (2012)
Harvest: Concerto for Trombone (2009)
High Wire (2012)
Hymn to a Blue Hour (2010)
Hymn to a Blue Hour (arr. Wallace) (2010/2021)
Kingfishers Catch Fire (2007)
Let Me Be Frank with You (2020/2021)
Let Me Be Frank with You (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
Lightning Field (2015)
Liminal (2016)
The Night Garden (2017)
Night on Fire. See: The Soul Has Many Motions
Places we can no longer go (2018)
(redacted) (2013)
Redline Tango (2004)
The Rumor of a Secret King (2017/2018)
The Rumor of a Secret King (arr. Blegen) (2017/2018/2020)
Sacred Spaces (2019)
Sasparilla (2005)
Sheltering Sky (2012)
Sheltering Sky (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Dunnigan) (2012/2020)
Snarl (2018)
Some treasures are heavy with human tears (2021)
Songs from the End of the World (2015)
The Soul Has Many Motions (2013)
- Night on Fire (2013)
- Night on Fire (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Ambrose) (2013/2021)
Strange Humors (2006)
Strange Humors (Flex instrumentation) (2006/2020)
Strange Humors (saxophone ensemble) (2006/2021)
This Cruel Moon (2014/2017)
This Cruel Moon (Flex instrumentation) (2017/2020)
Turbine (2006)
Turning (2007)
Undertow (2008)
Until the Scars (2014/2019)
Wine-Dark Sea (2014)
Xerxes (2010)

Resources

Mackey, J. (2007). Kingfishers Catch Fire: 2007 [score]. Osti Music:[Boston].
Perusal core