La Mezquita de Córdoba

Julie Giroux

Julie Giroux

The title translates from the Spanish as "The Mosque at Córdoba."

General Info

Year: 2005
Duration: c. 11:25
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Musica Propria
Cost: Score and Parts - $140.00   |   Score Only - $35.00

Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon
Contra-Bassoon
Bb Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
Bb Bass Clarinet
Bb Contrabass Clarinet
Eb Contrabass Clarinet
Eb Alto Saxophone I-II
Bb Tenor Saxophone
Eb Baritone Saxophone
Bb Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Bass Trombone
Euphonium (Bass Clef & Treble Clef)
Tuba
String Bass
Timpani
Percussion, including:

• Bass Drum
• Crash Cymbals
• Bar Chimes
• Castanets
• Finger Cymbals
• Jingle Stick
• Maracas
• Marimba
• Skin Drum
• Suspended Cymbal
• Suspended trash cymbal
• Tambourine
• Triangle
• Tubular Bells

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

In 169 B.C. the Romans founded Córdoba. After the fall of Rome, it existed under the rule of the Visigoths and became the capital of Al Andalus, Muslim Spain, in 716.

The Moors conquered Córdoba in the eighth century and by the tenth century the city boasted a population of 500,000, compared to about 38,000 in Paris. According to the chronicles of the day, the city had 700 mosques, some 60,000 palaces, and 70 libraries -- one reportedly housing 500,000 manuscripts and employing a staff of researchers, illuminators and book binders. Córdoba also had some 900 public baths as well as Europe’s first street lights.

Reigning with wisdom and justice, the rulers of Córdoba treated Christians and Jews with tolerance. They also improved trade and agriculture, patronized the arts, made valuable contributions to science, and established Córdoba as the most sophisticated city in Europe.

When the Moors conquered Córdoba, they found a Visigoth cathedral, promptly pulled it down and built a mosque complex, the walls of which enclosed about four acres. It was over 40 years in the making. Over the centuries, the Moors roofed over and developed more and more within this complex. Muslim, Christian, and Jewish faiths alike were practiced within its walls, an unprecedented feat then and literally unheard of today.

When the Christians reconquered Córdoba in 1236, the new rulers were so awed by its beauty that they left it standing, building their cathedral in the midst of its rows of arches and columns. Thus it is preserved today, fondly referred to in Spain as "La Gran Mezquita."

La Mezquita contains over 500 marble, granite, and alabaster columns. Mixed into the califal styles, one can see the Byzantine and oriental influences, as well as Hispano-romanic and Visigoth elements throughout the mosque. The grandeur of La Mezquita and its colorful political and religious history has earned it its place as a true wonder of the civilized world.

La Mezquita de Córdoba opens with the destruction of the original Christian church in 716 A.D. and proceeds as a musical celebration of its multi-cultural, religious and artistic accomplishments.

- Program Note by composer

Commissioned by the Louisiana State University Beta Omega Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia for Frank B. Wickes in honor of 25 years of music education and excellence at Louisiana State University

- Program Note from score

Awards

• La Mezquita de Córdoba has been recommended as interesting, serious and distinctive music by members of the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE).

Commercial Discography

• Audio CD: University of Texas at El Paso Symphonic Winds (Ron Hufstader, conductor) - 5 July 2011

Audio Links

• Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown

State Ratings

• Florida: V
• Indiana: ISSMA SENIOR BAND GROUP I
• North Carolina: VI
• Ohio: OMEA High School Band AA

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

• West Virginia University (Morgantown) Symphonic Band (Jay Drury, conductor) – 27 February 2020
• Ithaca (N.Y.) College Concert Band (Benjamin Rochford, conductor) – 11 December 2019
• Lamar University (Beaumont, Tx.) Wind Ensemble (Andrew McMahan, conductor) – 17 October 2019
• Indiana University (Bloomington) Summer Band (Eric Smedley, conductor) – 17 July 2019
• Slippery Rock (Penn.) University Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Jonathan Helmick, conductor) – 16 October 2018
• Wind Symphony of Clovis (Calif.) (Gary P. Gilroy, conductor) – 26 November 2017
• Irish Symphonic Wind Orchestra (Dublin) (Liam Daly, conductor) – 19 July 2017 - WASBE Conference (Utrecht, Netherlands)
• Metropolitan Wind Symphony (Lexington, Mass.) (Lewis J. Buckley, conductor) – 10 June 2017
• California State University, Bakersfield, Concert Band (Leo Sakomoto, conductor) – 5 May 2017
• College of the Sequoias (Visalia, Calif.) Symphonic Band (Michel Tackett, conductor) - 24 March 2017 (2017 Sutherland Wind Festival (Fresno, Calif.)
• University of Colorado, Boulder, Concert Band and Symphonic Band – 13 April 2016
• Fresno (Calif.) City College Wind Ensemble (Dale Engstrom, conductor) - 13 March 2016 (2016 Sutherland Wind Festival (Fresno, Calif.)
• Colorado Wind Ensemble (Denver) (Joseph Martin, conductor) - Saturday, Oct 25, 2014
• California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, Wind Ensemble (Andrew McMahan, conductor) - 25 April 2014
• Metropolitan Wind Symphony (Jamaica Plain, Mass.) (Lewis J. Buckley, conductor) - 2014

Works for Winds by this Composer

Adaptable Music

• At the Covid Cabana (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
• The Bonsai Tree (Flex instrumentation) (2010/2020)
• Bridge Market (Flex instrumentation) (2013/2020)
• I'll Be Home A'fore Ya (Flex instrumentation) (2003/2020)
• One Life Beautiful (Flex instrumentation) (2010/2020)
• Opa! (Flex instrumentation) (2017/2020)
• Our Cast Aways (Flex instrumentation) (2018/2020)
• A Time to Dance (2006) (Flex instrumentation) (2006/2020)

All Wind Works

• Af-free-kah! (2013)
• All Good Things
• All Through the Night (as arranger) (2011)
• Always (2019)
• Amaranthine
• Appalachian Portrait (2017)
• The Ash Grove (2019)
• At the Covid Cabana (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
• Away in a Manger (as arranger)
• Before the Sun (2013)
• The Bench by the Sea (2017)
• Bonsai Tree, The (2010)
• Bookmarks from Japan (2013)
• Boston Liberties (2003)
• Carnaval! (2013)
• Chorale for Wind Band and Melodic Percussion (as arranger)
• Christmas and Sousa Forever (as arranger)
• Christmas Toons (2012)
• Christmas with Mozart (2007)
• Circus Franticus (2001)
• Cordoba (2013)
• Crown of Thorns (1998)
• Culloden I and II (2000)
• Culloden III (2000)
• Crown of Thorns
• Dragon Sky (2015)
• Dream Dancer
• The Elements
• Empire (2006)
• Fantasy in French (2012)
• Fields of Gold (2019)
• The First Noel (as arranger)
• Fort McHenry Suite (2000)
• Freedom Rising (2017)
• Glenbury Grove (2009)
• Glorious Light
• The Grace in Being (2013)
• Greatest Generation, The
• Hands of Mercy
• HardDrive
• Hark! Those Bells Are Smokin’ (2011)
• HearthStone, The (2016)
• Husaria Cavalry Overture (2006)
• Hymn for the Innocent (2016)
• I Got Rhythm for Christmas
• Il Burlone (2000)
• I'll Be Home A'fore Ye (2006)
• Imbizo (2007)
• Impressions (2013)
• In My Father's Eyes (2017)
• In the Bleak Midwinter (as arranger) (1906/2018)
• Incantations
• Italian Rhapsody (2005)
• Jerusalem (as arranger)
• Jingle Them Bells (as arranger) (1857/2011)
• Journey Through Orion (2006)
• Just Flyin'! (2015)
• Kalanu
• Khan (2008)
• La Mezquita de Córdoba (2005)
• Let Your Spirit Sing
• Little Drummer Boy's Bolero, The
• Louisiana Parish Sketches (2001)
• Mambo Perro Loco (2008)
• March of the Sun Dried Tomatoes (2000)
• Medalist Fanfare (2013)
• Moonshine: See Shine
  
• Movin' On Down the Line
• My Soul to Keep (2019)
• Mystery on Mena Mountain (1985)
• Nature of the Beast, The
• No Finer Calling (2006)
• No Man's Land (2017)
• Nothing That Is (2000)
• Nutcracker Fantasia (2012)
• O Holy Night (arr. Giroux) (1847/2011)
• Of Blood and Stone (2015)
• One Life Beautiful (2010)
• One Life Beautiful (Flex instrumentation) (2010/2020)
• One Torch, Two Women, Three Ships and Men Rejoicing (2011)
• Opa! (2018)
• Ouachita (1987)
• Our Cast Aways (2018)
• Our Cast Aways (Flex instrumentation) (2018/2020)
• Overture in Five Flat (2010)
• Paprikash (2014)
• Peter Patapan (2011)
• Poseidon
• Primality!
• Prisoner of the Ring (1986)
• Radiant Shadows (2016)
• Riften Wed (2013)
• River Shannon (2020)
• Shadow Falls
• Shine (2017)
• Space Symphony (1986/1991)
• Speed of Heat, The
• Stealing Home (2016)
• Stocking Full of Composers, A (2009)
• Symphony No. 5 (2017)
• Symphony No. 6 (2020, in composition)
• Symphony of Fables, A (2006)
• Taboo for Trumpet and Wind Ensemble
• Three Fanfares (2003)
• Three Wise Guys (2011)
• Tiger Tail March (2000)
• A Time to Dance (2006)
• To Walk with Wings (2000)
• Twelve Days of Christmas, The (Giroux)
• The Twelve Gallon Hat (2013)
• Under the Willow (2015)
• A Very Merry Heart and Soul
• Vigils Keep (2005)
• Vortex (2015)
• Wagon Trail
• West Wind Overture (2012)
• What Child Is That Playing Carol of the Bells? (as arranger) (2011)
• What Goes in the Night (2000)
• When Country Comes to Town
• Where the Red Fern Grows (2016)
• Wild West Overture
• Without You
• Wolves in Moonlight (2019)
• Zephyr, Chorale and Dance (2012)

References

• Giroux, J. (2005). La Mosque de Córdoba = The Mosque at Córdoba: For Concert Band [score]. Musica Propria: San Antonio, Tex.