Message on the Rock, The

Robert Sheldon

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 by 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

Commercial Discography

None discovered thus far.

Media

• Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown

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

Works for Winds by this Composer

Adaptable Music

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

All Wind Works

• An American Hymntune (as arranger) (2004)
• Appalachian Legacy (1995)
• Appalachian Morning (2008)
• Armenian Anthem
• Art in the Park (2008)
• As a Wind from the North (2006)
• As Twilight Falls (2011)
• An Australian Sea Ballad (2011)
• Awakened Like the Morn
• Barrier Reef
• Bayside Portrait, A
• Bellefonte Overture
• Bermuda Triangle, The
• Beyond the Higher Skies (1999)
• Beyond the Riverbend (2013)
• Big Brass on Patrol
• Black Is the Color... (2009)
• Blaze of Glory
• Blessed Legacy (as arranger) (2019)
• The Blue Ridge (as arranger) (2017)
• Bounty Hunter from "Advent Rising"
• Bright Auroral Skies
• Bright Lights! (2015)
• Bristol Bay Legend
• Brule River Celebration
• Cape Fear Chronicles
• Cataclysm (2018)
• Carol of Two Mangers, A
• Celebration and Song (2009)
• Cellular Symphony
• Century Point
• Chanteys (2000)
• Charleston Harbor Celebration
• Chiaroscuro (2002)
• Child's Lullaby, A (2016)
• Chimney Rock Celebration (2017)
• Choreography (2009)
• Christmas Couplet, A
• Christmastimes Three
• Coldwater Creek
• Commemoration
• Conundrum
• Corsairs Landing, The
• Crazy for Cartoons (2011)
• Crest of Nobility
• Crossings, The
• Dances of a Shimmering Spirit (2020)
• Danse Celestiale (1989)
• Danzas Cubanas (2010)
• Daydreams (Sheldon) (2013)
• Der Lehrmeister (2017)
• Divertimento
• Dorian Dreamscape
• Eagle Mountain Overture
• Edifice (2014)
• El Rey de Fransia (2003)
• El Taco Picante (2017)
• Falcon Lake Overture
• Fall River Overture
• Fanfare and Intermezzo (1998)
• Fantasy on an Early American Marching Tune
• Final Voyage, The
• Fires of Bandai, The (2014)
• Flight of the Piasa (2008)
• Four Winds
• Garden of the Black Rose
• Gently I Wander (2017)
• Gently Touch the Sky
• Ghost Fleet (2001)
• Golden Panther March
• "Halo Suite" from Video Games Live
• Harbinger (2015)
• Hawkeye Overture (2017/2019)
• Hill Country Holiday
• Holiday Sleigh Ride
• Iberian Escapades (2009)
• Images (Sheldon)
• Infinite Horizons
• In the Center Ring (2003)
• In the Shining of the Stars (1996)
• In This Quiet Place
• Integrity
• Intrada for Winds
• Intrepid Journey (2015)
• Irish Air, An
• Irish Ballade, An
• Joyful Journey, A
• Korobochka
• A Lantern in the Window (1998)
• Legend of Starved Rock
• Let Evening Come
• Lindbergh Variations
• Lion's Gate (2019)
• A Longford Legend (1999)
• Lords of Greenwich, The
• Lost Colony
• Lost in Mammoth Cave
• Lydian Lullaby (2006)
• Manatee Lyric Overture
• Maqamat
• March Ceremonial
• March of the Majestics
• March Mixolydian
• Mark of Triumph
• Melody Park (2014)
• The Message on the Rock (2004)
• Metroplex (2006)
• The Monster Under the Bed (2005)
• Moravian Folk Rhapsody (2004/2008)
• Morning Mist (2012)
• Most Wonderful Christmas, A (1934/2006)
• Mystery of Duffy's Cut, The
• Mystic Journey
• Noel Francais
• Northwest Rising
• Ocean Ridge Rhapsody
• Of Kindred Spirit
• On Placid Seas (2015)
• Once the Man
• One Thousand Cranes
• Oracles of the Sirocco (2018)
• Overdrive (2015)
• Overture to a New Horizon (2014)
• Palimpsest
• Paragon
• Patriotic Salute
• Patriotic Snippets
• Pevensey Castle (1993)
• Pevensey Castle (Flex instrumentation) (1993/2012)
• Phantom of Dark Hollow, The (2006)
• Phrygian Phantasy
• Pioneer's Passage, The
• The Pioneers
• Pop Culture (2007)
• Praeludium and Dance
• A Prairie Portrait (2006)
• Prairiescape
• Prelude on an Old English Hymn (2000)
• Prevail! (2016)
• Pride of the Grenadiers
• Pursuit of the Centaur (2016)
• Quixotic Episode
• Red Covered Bridge, The (2014)
• Red Rock Canyon
• Requiem to a Land Forgotten
• Resurgences (2013)
• Rhapsodic Celebration (2011)
• Ritmico!
• River Trail Expedition
• Riverside Overture (2019)
• Rock Island Trail
• Sag Harbor Sunset (2011)
• Sandcastle Sketches
• Savannah River Rhapsody
• Scandinavian Folk Tale, A
• Scottish Ballade, A
• Shenandoah (arr. Sheldon) (2003)
• Siege of Harlech Castle, The
• Silver Spring Soliloquy
• Simple Celebration, A (2001)
• Skydance (2018)
• Sound Innovations Fanfare (2010)
• South Shore Soliloquy (2019)
• Southwest Saga
• Spirit Lake Overture
• The Spirit of Killian Hill (2007)
• Spirit of Thanksgiving, The (2014)
• Star Bright (2018)
• The Stormchasers (2012)
• Storybrook Mountain
• Sugar Creek Overture
• The Swords of Stavanger (2009)
• Symphonic Narrative, A
• Synergies
• Tales of Dundee
• There Will Come Soft Rains
• Three Carols for a Celebration
• Three Georgian Vignettes (2008)
• Three Miniatures for Winds and Percussion
• Timberline Overture
• To Conquer the Skies
• Travelin' Music (2016)
• Variants on a Sea Shanty (as arranger) (2014)
• Variants on a Union Hymn
• Velocity
• Visions of Flight
• Voices from the Battlefield
• Wallaby Walkabout
• Welsh Ayres and Dances
• West Highlands Sojourn (1993)
• West Highlands Sojourn (Flex instrumentation) (1993/2014)
• Willow Grove
• Winds of Morocco
• Windward Overture (2016)
• With Every Sunrise (2016)

Resources

• Perusal score
• Robert Sheldon website Accessed 1 May 2020