On Joyful Wing
Subtitle: On a Hymn of Sarah and Lowell
General Info
Year: 2014
Duration: c. 3:45
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Carl Hammer Music
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $100.00; (digital) - $100.00
Instrumentation
Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
English Horn
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III (div.)
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV, including:
- China Cymbals
- Congas
- Crash Cymbals
- Marimba
- Snare Drum
- Splash Cymbal
- Suspended Cymbal
- Tambourine
- Triangle
- Vibraphone
- Wind Chimes
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
Sarah Flower Adams wrote Nearer, My God, to Thee in 1841. It was later set to the 1854 tune Bethany by Lowell Mason. The song retells the story of Jacob's dream found in Genesis 28: 11-12.
And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of the place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and beheld a ladder set on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven, and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.
This setting takes its departure from the fifth verse
Or if on joyful wing, cleaving the sky,
Sun, moon, and stars forgot, upwards I fly
Still all my songs shall be, nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
Along with the image of flight, the music also imagines a joyful 19th century revival meeting, complete with dancing, preaching, soulful exclamations and high-spirited worship.
- Program Note by composer
Media
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Santa Monica (Calif.) College Wind Ensemble (Kevin McKeown, conductor) – 15 May 2022 *Premiere Performance*
Works for Winds by This Composer
- Adventure on the High Seas
- Blow!
- Don't Cry
- Hail to Palisades
- The Long Silence Broke
- Man-O'-War (2005)
- North by Northwest Overture (as arranger) (1959/2008)
- On Joyful Wing (2014)
- Saxophobia (as arranger) (1918/2011)
- We'll Make the Air with Music Ring (2021)
Resources
- Carl Hammer Music Accessed 2 November 2022
- Perusal score