Machiavelli's Conscience

From Wind Repertory Project
Michael Markowski

Michael Markowski


Subtitle: For eight musicians


General Info

Year: 2017
Duration: c. 7:30
Difficulty: VI (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Markowski Creative
Cost: Score and Parts (digital) - $80.00


Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet
C Trumpet I-II
Trombone
Bass Trombone


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

Machiavelli's Conscience refers to the Italian writer and philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli who is perhaps best known today for having written a political treatise called The Prince in the early 1500s. To quote Wikipedia: "The descriptions within The Prince have the general theme of accepting that the aims of princes -- such as glory and survival -- can justify the use of immoral means to achieve those ends." Think: Frank Underwood from House of Cards. This is where the word "Machiavellian" comes from. When a person is described as being Machiavellian, he or she is allegedly "cunning, scheming, and unscrupulous, especially in politics or in advancing one's career."

The more I discovered Machiavelli (who wasn't known for always writing this darkly ... he wrote comedies and plays and songs, too), the more I became fascinated by how a person like this could possibly come to some of these morally outrageous but politically justified conclusions. At its core, I think the octet imagines the cogs of such a conflicted mind at work as it searches for a way to justify these radical ideas in the name of power and ego.

Machiavelli's Conscience premiered on April 23, 2017, at the University of Illinois in Champaign, Illinois, under the direction of Sean Smith.

- Program Note by composer


Dedicated to Elizabeth and Steve Peterson.

- Program Note from score


Media


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • Arizona State University (Tempe) Wind Ensemble (Kristen Zelenak, conductor) - 24 May 2021
  • Combined U.S. Navy Fleet Bands (Midwest Clinic) (Kelly Cartwright, conductor) - 21 December 2018 (2018 Midwest Clinic)
  • Neoteric Chamber Winds (St. Paul, Minn.) (Cory Near, conductor) - 14 August 2018
  • University of South Alabama (Mobile) Faculty and Friends (William Peterson, conductor) - 29 January 2018
  • University of Illinois (Champaign) (Sean Smith, conductor) – 23 April 2017 *Premiere Performance*


Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music


All Wind Works


Resources