Message on the Rock, The

Robert Sheldon

This work bears the designation Opus 102

General Info

Year: 2004
Duration: c. 4:40
Difficulty: II (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Alfred Music Publishing
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $58.00; (digital) - $58.00 | Score Only (print) - $6.00

Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute
Oboe
Bassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II
Horn in F
Trombone I-II
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion, including:

Bass Drum
Crash Cymbals
Snare Drum
Suspended Cymbal
Wind Chimes

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

The inspiration for this piece came from the scenes and speeches on a rock emblazoned with battle scenes from our nation's history. The opening is a military-sounding march that leads to a solemn section over which a narrator reads the famous speeches painted on the rock while a muted trumpet plays Taps. The initial march theme returns, with fragments of numerous patriotic melodies juxtaposed with the original melody that grows to an exhilarating ending.

- Program Note from publisher

The Message on the Rock was commissioned by the East Central Middle School Honor Band for a performance in Brookings, South Dakota. The piece is a musical representation of rather unusual artwork that can be found in a field west of Des Moines, in Adair County, Iowa.

Artist Ray Sorensen of Greenfield, Iowa, discovered a rock that had, for some time, been painted with graffiti. He decided that the rock should be properly painted once and for all and did so with truly remarkable skill. He emblazoned the sides of the rock with battle scenes from our nation's history, including Washington's crossing of the Delaware and a scene from 9-11. Fragments of speeches from American presidents are included and an American flag drapes the rock – now known as Freedom Rock.

- Program Note from score

Media

Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown
Audio CD: West Ridge Middle School Wind Ensemble (Juliana Riecss, conductor) - 2010]

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Plainville Wind Ensemble (New Britain, Conn.) (Ken Bagley, conductor) – 17 November 2019
Ontario County West 5th & 6th Grade Band - 2013
West Ridge Middle School (Austin, Tx.) Wind Ensemble (Juliana Riecss, conductor) – 15 December 2010 (2010 Midwest Clinic)

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

Pevensey Castle (Flex instrumentation) (1993/2012)
West Highlands Sojourn (Flex instrumentation) (1993/2014)

All Wind Works

African Adventure (2011)
An American Hymntune (as arranger) (2004)
Appalachian Legacy (1995)
Appalachian Morning (2008)
Armenian Anthem (2003)
Art in the Park (2008)
As Twilight Falls (2011)
As a Wind from the North (2006)
An Australian Sea Ballad (2007)
An Austrian Carol (2012)
Awakened Like the Morn (2005)
Barrier Reef (2002)
A Bayside Portrait (1984)
Bellefonte Overture (2006)
Bermuda Triangle, The (2006)
Beyond the Higher Skies (1999)
Beyond the Riverbend (2013)
Big Brass on Patrol (2004)
Big Sky Round-Up (2011)
Black Is the Color... (2009)
Blaze of Glory (2003)
Blessed Legacy (as arranger) (2019)
The Blue Ridge (as arranger) (2017)
Bounty Hunter from "Advent Rising" (2005/2006)
Bright Auroral Skies
Bright Lights! (2015)
Bristol Bay Legend (1988)
Brule River Celebration (2002)
By the River's Edge (2020)
Canadian Ballad (as arranger) (2010)
Cape Fear Chronicles (1997)
A Carol Francais (as arranger) (2016)
A Carol of Two Mangers (as arranger) (2005)
Cataclysm (2018)
Celebration and Song (2009)
Cellular Symphony (2005)
The Celts of County Clare (2021)
Century Point (1998)
Chanteys (2000)
Charleston Harbor Celebration (2007)
Chiaroscuro (2002)
A Child's Lullaby (2017)
Children of Gaia (2015)
Chimney Rock Celebration (2017)
Choreography (2009)
A Christmas Couplet (as arranger) (2004)
Christmastimes Three (as arranger) (2002)
Cimarron Fanfare (2016)
Coldwater Creek (1996)
Commemoration Overture (2013)
The Common Denominator (2013)
Commonwealth (2021)
Construction Zone (2010)
Continental Divide (2010)
Conundrum (2008)
The Corsair's Landing (1991)
Crazy for Cartoons (2011)
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The Crossings (1999)
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Dorian Dreamscape (2004)
Eagle Mountain Overture (1990)
Edifice (2014)
El Rey de Fransia (as arranger) (2003)
El Taco Picante (2017)
Falcon Lake Overture (2004)
Fall River Overture (1981)
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Fantasy on an Early American Marching Tune (2008)
The Final Voyage (2003)
The Fires of Bandai (2014)
Flight of the Piasa (2008)
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Four Winds (1993)
Garden of the Black Rose (2001)
Gently Touch the Sky (2001)
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Ghost Fleet (2001)
Glorious Insurrection (2020)
Golden Panther March (2005)
"Halo Suite" from Video Games Live (2006)
Harbinger (2015)
Hawkeye Overture (2017/2019)
Hill Country Holiday (2001)
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Holiday Sleigh Ride (2003)
Holiday Snippets (as arranger) (2009)
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Hues of Blue (2015)
Iberian Escapades (2009)
Images (1994)
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In the Shining of the Stars (1996)
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An Irish Air (2006)
Irish Ballade, An (2003)
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Korobochka (2003)
Lake County Landscapes (2015)
A Lantern in the Window (1998)
Legend of Starved Rock (1996)
Let Evening Come (2000)
Lindbergh Variations (1991)
Lion's Gate (2019)
Lone Eagle (2020)
A Longford Legend (1999)
The Lords of Greenwich (2010)
Lost Colony (1994)
Lost in Mammoth Cave (2006)
Lydian Lullaby (2006)
Manatee Lyric Overture (1986)
Maqamat (2005)
March Ceremonial (2005)
March Mixolydian (2005)
March of the Hyperion Guards (2014)
March of the Majestics (2004)
Mark of Triumph (1985)
Melody Park (2014)
The Message on the Rock (2004)
Metrix (2011)
Metroplex (2006)
Mills on the Merrimack (2015)
The Monster Under the Bed (2005)
Moon Rocks (2016)
Moravian Folk Rhapsody (2004/2008)
Morning Mist (2012)
A Most Wonderful Christmas (as arranger) (1934/2006)
The Mystery of Duffy's Cut (2007)
Mystic Journey (2004)
Noel Francais (2003)
Northwest Rising (1999)
Ocean Ridge Rhapsody (1989)
Ode to Joy (as arranger) (2013)
Of Distant Peaks (2012)
Of Kindred Spirit (1997)
On Placid Seas (2015)
Once the Man (2005)
One Thousand Cranes (2010)
Open Road (2013)
Oracles of the Sirocco (2018)
Overdrive (2015)
Overture to a New Horizon (2014)
Palimpsest (2003)
Paragon (2005)
Patriotic Salute (2003)
Patriotic Snippets (2008)
Pevensey Castle (1993)
Pevensey Castle (Flex instrumentation) (1993/2012)
The Phantom of Dark Hollow (2006)
Phrygian Phantasy (2003)
Piedmont Festival Overture (2016)
The Pilgrimage (2011)
The Pioneer's Passage (2000)
The Pioneers (2010)
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Praeludium and Dance (2008)
A Prairie Portrait (2006)
Prairiescape (1996)
Prelude on an Old English Hymn (2000)
Presto! (2014)
Prevail! (2018)
Pride of the Grenadiers (2005)
Pursuit of the Centaur (2016)
Quest of the Knights Templar (2011)
Quixotic Episode (2002)
The Red Covered Bridge (2014)
Red Rock Canyon (1994)
Reflections on a New Tomorrow (2012)
Renaissance Fair (2017)
Requiem to a Land Forgotten (2007)
Resurgences (2013)
Rhapsodic Celebration (2011)
Ritmico! (2001)
River Trail Expedition (2011)
Riverside Overture (2019)
Rock Island Trail (2002)
Rock That Bach! (as arranger) (2012)
Rock This Band! (2019)
Royal March (2012)
Sag Harbor Sunset (2011)
Sandcastle Sketches (1987)
Savannah River Rhapsody (2012)
A Scandinavian Folk Tale (2003)
A Scottish Ballade (2004)
Serenade (2015)
Shadows of the Equinox (2012)
Shenandoah (as arranger) (2003)
Shenanigans (2009)
Sugar Creek Overture (2007)
The Siege of Harlech Castle 2012)
Silver Spring Soliloquy (1992)
A Simple Celebration (2001)
Skydance (2018)
Snow Globe (2010)
Sonatina (2016)
A Song of Hanukkah (as arranger) (2017)
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South Shore Soliloquy (2019)
Southampton March (2017)
Southwest Saga (1987)
Spirit Lake Overture (1991)
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Spoon River (as arranger) (1991)
Star Bright (2018)
Stately Dances (2015)
Storm Warning! (2014)
The Stormchasers (2012)
Storybrook Mountain (1998)
Sugar Creek Overture (2007)
The Swords of Stavanger (2009)
A Symphonic Celebration (2019)
A Symphonic Narrative (1992)
Symphonic Suite from "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (as arranger) (2005)
Synergies (2008)
Tales of Dundee (2005)
Tango Argentina (2016)
There Will Come Soft Rains (2007)
Three Carols for a Celebration (as arranger) (2007)
Three Georgian Vignettes (2008)
Three Miniatures for Winds and Percussion (2005)
Timberline Overture (2003)
To Conquer the Skies (2004)
To a Wild Rose (as arranger) (2014)
Travelin' Music (as arranger) (2016)
Triumph of the Argonauts (2014)
A Ukrainian Christmas (as arranger) (2017)
Uptown Strut (2013)
Variants on a Sea Shanty (as arranger) (2014)
Variants on a Union Hymn (2005)
Velocity (2009)
Visions of Flight (1990)
Voices from the Battlefield (1995)
Walking Tune (as arranger) (2020)
Wallaby Walkabout (2003)
Welsh Ayres and Dances (as arranger) (2003)
West Highlands Sojourn (1993)
West Highlands Sojourn (Flex instrumentation) (1993/2014)
Willow Grove (1992)
Winds of Morocco (2001)
Windward Overture (2016)
With Every Sunrise (2016)
A Woodland Celebration (2021)
A Yiddish Lullaby (as arranger) (2012)

Resources

Perusal score
Robert Sheldon website Accessed 3 September 2021