Pale Blue on Deep
General Info
Year: 2011
Duration: c. 7:45
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Aaron Perrine
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $185.00 | Score Only (print) - $20.00
Instrumentation
Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
Contrabassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
Piano
Timpani
Percussion, including:
- Bass Drum
- Carriage Bolt Chimes
- Crotales
- Glockenspiel
- Key Chimes
- Marimba
- Suspended Cymbal
- Triangle
- Vibraphone
N.B.: Carriage bolt chimes and key chimes are homemade instruments, similar in effect to wind chimes.
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
I arrived at the title, Pale Blue on Deep, while sitting on the shore of Lake Superior. Though I’ve visited this lake countless times, I’m always mesmerized by its power and serene beauty. You don’t just see this Great Lake; it’s a feeling you experience with all of your senses.
While there are certainly melodic and harmonic motifs used throughout the work, the larger unifying themes present are a bit more abstract. One main theme is the idea of colors blurring into each other. This was inspired by the place on the horizon where the water appears to blend right into the sky. Moments of tension and release can be attributed to a number of things such as waves crashing to the shore or the imagery of what might lie beneath the water’s surface. Above all, I believe the most prevalent theme of the piece is its pensive, introspective feeling, which is exactly the same feeling that comes over me upon each visit to Lake Superior.
- Program Note by composer
Commissioned by the Spring Lake Park Wind Ensemble, Spring Lake Park, Minnesota, Brian Lukkasson, Director
- Program Note from score
Awards
- American Bandmasters Association Sousa/Ostwald Award, 2013.
Media
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Quincy (Ill.) Concert Band (Trent A. Hollinger, conductor) - 5 November 2023
- University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Wind Symphony (John P. Lynch, conductor) - 5 October 2023
- Pinnacle Winds (Kansas City, Mo.) (John C. Carmichael, conductor) - 14 May 2023
- University of Indianapolis (Ind.) Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Jon S. Noworyta, conductor) - 26 March 2023
- Penn State University (University Park) Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Tonya Mitchell-Spradlin, conductor) - 2 March 2023
- University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire Symphony Band (Michael Colburn, conductor) - 18 November 2022
- University of North Florida (Jacksonville) Concert Band (Chelsey Roberts, conductor) - 12 October 2022
- University of Manitoba (Winnipeg, Man., Can.) Wind Ensemble (Jacquie Dawson, conductor) - 22 April 2022
- University of South Florida (Tampa) Wind Ensemble (Michael Lebrias, conductor) - 12 February 2021
- Texas Woman's University (Denton) Wind Symphony (Aaron Perrine, conductor) – 15 November 2019
- West Virginia University (Morgantown) Wind Symphony (Aaron Perrine, conductor) – 10 November 2019
- University of Texas (Austin) Wind Symphony (Scott Hanna, conductor) – 25 October 2019
- Kennesaw (Ga.) State University Wind Ensemble (David T. Kehler, conductor) – 25 September 2019
- Valdosta (Ga.) State University Wind Ensemble (Joe Brashier, conductor) – 30 April 2019
- State University of New York, Potsdam, Symphonic Band (Brian K. Doyle, conductor) – 16 April 2019
- University of Colorado Boulder Symphonic Band (Matthew Dockendorf, conductor) – 14 November 2018
- Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge) Wind Ensemble (Damon Talley, conductor?) – 5 October 2017
- University of Oklahoma (Norman) Symphony Band (Michael E. Hancock, conductor) – 24 April 2017
- University of Nebraska (Lincoln) Symphonic Band (Anthony Falcone, conductor) – 7 March 2017
- Cathedral City (Calif.) High School Symphony Band (Matthew K. Howe, conductor) - 18 February 2017 (2017 CASMEC Conference, San Jose)
- San Francisco Wind Ensemble (John Carnahan, conductor) – 28 January 2017
Works for Winds by This Composer
Adaptable Music
- Life Painting (Adaptable Band) (2019/2020)
- Tears of St. Lawrence (Flex instrumentation) (2014/2020)
All Wind Works
- All the Things I'm Not (2019)
- Among the Aspens (2022)
- And Sings the Tune Without the Words (2020)
- April (2008)
- Beneath a Canvas of Green (2012/2018)
- Bluebonnet Drift (2021)
- Child Moon (2017)
- Concerto for Percussion and Wind Ensemble (2018)
- A Dream of Trees (2019)
- Drifting (2022)
- Fever Flash
- Floral Larceny (2018)
- Forever Radiant (2019)
- A Glimpse of the Eternal (2016)
- I was Just Looking at the World (2011)
- In the Open Air, in the Silent Lines (2018)
- In This Moment (2001/2011)
- Inner Sanctum (2010)
- Iris (2016)
- It Has to Be Beautiful (2018)
- Life Painting (2019)
- Life Painting (Adaptable Band) (2019/2020)
- The Long Light After Time (2022)
- Move
- Only Light (2014)
- Pale Blue on Deep (2011)
- Snap
- Shimmer
- Stained with Light
- Tears of St Lawrence (2014)
- Tears of St. Lawrence (Flex instrumentation) (2014/2020)
- Temperance (2016)
- ...to the wind (2014)
- Traces of Amber Sky (2018)
- Vignettes of Mount Vernon (2022)