Mavericks

From Wind Repertory Project
Paul Dooley

Paul Dooley


General Info

Year: 2015 / 2016
Duration: c. 7:25
Difficulty: VI (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Orchestra
Publisher: Paul Dooley
Cost: Score and Parts - Rental


Instrumentation

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

  • Bass Drum
  • Bongos
  • China Cymbals
  • Crash Cymbals
  • Finger Cymbals
  • Flextone
  • Glockenspiel
  • Marimba
  • Shakers
  • Snare Drum
  • Suspended Cymbal
  • Tambourine
  • Tam-Tam
  • Timbales
  • Trap Set
  • Triangle (2)
  • Vibraphone
  • Whip
  • Xylophone


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

Mavericks (2016), a concerto for wind ensemble, was commissioned by a consortium organized by the Baylor Wind Ensemble, conducted by Eric Wilson.

The title refers to both the musical mavericks in these fantastic ensembles, as well as the legendary Mavericks surf break off the shore of Half Moon Bay in Northern California. Every winter, the infamous Mavericks waves build to reach towering heights as much as sixty feet, smashing into rocks below the ocean’s surface, with an impact that can be measured on the Richter scale. Here, the ocean becomes a perilous playground to the most fearless and talented big wave surfing mavericks in the world.

In my composition, the percussion mavericks, playing drumset, bongos and timbales, provide a groovy yet ominous forward momentum. Churning saxophone melodies crash amongst the looming dark force of low brass pedal notes, while woodwind riffs spray fearlessly in the face of danger.

- Program Note by composer


Mavericks is scored for large wind ensemble with orchestrational depth achieved in part through unconventional forces, with independent parts written for six B-flat clarinets, five saxophones, and six horns, among others. The work opens by establishing the groove mentioned by Dooley: an insistent battering of sixteenth notes in shifting colors with fragmented syncopations exclaiming rhythmic interjections. Although pulse is clearly a driving factor throughout the piece, this groove remains unpredictable through a constantly changing series of time signatures (more than half of the measures in the work contain a meter change), which further helps to paint the image of peril in the waves. What makes Mavericks most colorful, however, is the layering of flowing melodic material atop this percolating rhythmic machine: a long line that emerges first in euphonium and later by the expanded saxophone section. A quasi-canonic flute ostinato helps to continue the rhythmic agitation until, no longer able to quell the tremendous energy it has built up, the piece whirls faster and faster. Here, a new melody emerges in trombones, perhaps reminiscent of late 1960s surf rock anthems. At the climactic moments, all these elements -- the rhythmic pulsation, long melodies, and fanfarish brass -- converge into a whirlwind of virtuosic and frenetic energy before concluding with a triumphant E-major chord for the full ensemble.

- Program Note by Jacob Wallace for Baylor Wind Ensemble concert program, 11 February 2016


Media

(Needed - please join the WRP if you can help.)


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project


Works for Winds by This Composer


Resources

  • Brown, Andrea. "Mavericks." In Teaching Music through Performance in Band. Volume 11, Compiled and edited by Richard Miles, 947-956. Chicago: GIA Publications, 2018.
  • Paul Dooley website
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