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Mothership
Mason Bates (trans. by composer)
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General Info
Year: 2012
Duration: c. 9:05
Difficulty: VI (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Orchestra and electronics
Publisher: Aphra Music
Cost: Score and Parts - Rental | Score Only - $95.00
Instrumentation
Full Score
Flute I-II-III-IV (I and II doubling piccolo)
Oboe I-II (II doubling English horn)
Bassoon I-II
Contrabassoon
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III-IV
B-flat Bass Clarinet I-II
B-flat Soprano Saxophone
E-flat Alto Saxophone
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
C Trumpet I-II-III-IV
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Piano
Harp
Timpani
Percussion
(percussion detail desired)
Laptop
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
This energetic opener imagines the wind ensemble as a mothership that is ‘docked’ by several visiting soloists, who offer brief but virtuosic riffs on the work’s thematic material over action-packed electro-acoustic orchestral figuration.
The piece follows the form of a scherzo with double trio (as found in, for example, the Schumann Symphony No. 2). Symphonic scherzos historically play with dance rhythms in a high-energy and appealing manner, with the ‘trio’ sections temporarily exploring new rhythmic areas. Mothership shares a formal connection with the symphonic scherzo but is brought to life by thrilling sounds of the 21st Century — the rhythms of modern-day techno in place of waltz rhythms, for example.
Recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra under Michael Tilson Thomas, Mothership received its world premiere at the Sydney Opera House and the YouTube Symphony on March 20, 2011, and it was viewed by almost two million people live on YouTube.
- Program Note by composer
Media
- Audio CD: Ohio University Wind Symphony (Andrew Trachsel, conductor) - 2013
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- University of Missouri, Kansas City, Conservatory Wind Ensemble (Steven D. Davis, conductor) - 8 March 2023
- University of Oklahoma (Norman) Wind Symphony (Shanti Simon, conductor) - 3 October 2021
- Texas Christian University (Ft. Worth) Concert Band (Matthew Garrett, conductor) - 28 April 2021
- United States Army Band (Washington, D.C.) (Andrew Esch, conductor) – 25 January 2020 (Winchester, Va.)
- California State University, Los Angeles Wind Ensemble (Emily Moss, conductor) – 2 December 2019
- Pacific Symphony (Costa Mesa, Calif.) Youth Wind Ensemble (Gregory X. Whitmore, conductor) – 17 November 2019
- Contra Costa Wind Symphony (Walnut Creek, Calif.) (Brad Hogarth, conductor) – 23 October 2019
- University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) Concert Band (Courtney Snyder, conductor) – 2 October 2019
- Winds of the Mountain Empire (Big Stone Gap, Va.) (Donald Sorah, conductor) – 19 July 2019
- Syracuse (N.Y.) University Wind Ensemble (Bradley P. Ethington, conductor) – 30 April 2019
- State University of New York, Fredonia, Wind Symphony (Donna Dolson, conductor) – 25 April 2019
- McGill University (Montreal, Que.) Wind Orchestra (Alain Cazes, conductor) – 2 February 2019
- West Chester University (Penn.) Wind Ensemble (Andrew Yozviak, conductor) – 9 December 2018
- University of Massachusetts Amherst Wind Ensemble (Matthew Westgate, conductor) – 7 December 2018
- Lone Star Wind Orchestra (Dallas, Tx.) (Eugene Migliaro Corporon, conductor) – 18 November 2018
- Houghton College (Caneadea, N.Y.) Wind Ensemble (Tim McGarvey, conductor) – 2 November 2018
- Indiana University (Bloomington) Concert Band (Jason H. Nam, conductor) – 30 October 2018
- California State University, Stanislaus, Wind Ensemble (Stuart Sims, conductor) – 16 October 2018
- University of Connecticut (Stamford) Wind Ensemble (Vu Nguyen, conductor) - 9 October 2018
- University of North Carolina, Greensboro, Symphonic Band (Mark Norman, conductor) – 27 February 2018
Works for Winds by This Composer
- Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release (arr. Thornton) (2018)
- Bootlegger's Break (2022)
- Chicago, 2012 (2014)
- Mothership (2012)
- Rusty Air in Carolina (2006/2015)
- Sea-Blue Circuitry (2011/2013)
- Sideman (2015)
- White Lies for Lomax (tr. Marinello)
Resources
- Mason Bates website
- "MOTHERSHIP (version for Wind Ensemble, Soloists and Electronica) by Mason Bates (USA)." WASBE. Web. (Featured as WASBE’s Composition of the Week, 6 April 2020). Accessed 16 January 2023
- Trachsel, Andrew. "Mothership." In Teaching Music through Performance in Band. Volume 10, Compiled and edited by Richard Miles, 642-657. Chicago: GIA Publications, 2015.