Point Blank
Subtitle: For Large Chamber Ensemble
General Info
Year: 2012
Duration: c. 7:55
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Chamber orchestra
Publisher: Paul Dooley
Cost: Score and Parts - Rental
Instrumentation
Full Score
Piccolo
Flute I-II-III-IV
Oboe I-II
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III-IV
B-flat Bass Clarinet
Bassoon I-II
Contrabassoon
Soprano Saxophone
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
Trumpet (in C) I-II-III-IV
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III (3rd doubles bass trombone)
Euphonium
Tuba
Contrabass
PIano
Timpani
Percussion I-VI, including:
- Bass Drum
- Drum Set
- Flexatone
- Marimba
- Shaker
- Snare Drum
- SuspendedCymbal
- Tam Tam
- Vibraphone
- Xylophone
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
Point Blank (2012) for wind ensemble was commissioned by a consortium organized by Gary Green of the University of Miami Frost Wind Ensemble. Point Blank is inspired by electronic music, in particular a style called Drum and Bass. I explore the interaction between computer-generated musical material and the human performer. For the wind ensemble's percussion battery, I transcribe tightly interlocking electronic rhythmic material. The drum set and timpani whirl the ensemble through an array of electronically inspired orchestrations, while the winds and brass shriek for dear life!
- Program note by composer
The work received its premiere at the Mizzou New Music Festival at Columbia, Missouri, by the group Alarm Will Sound on July 18, 2010. Initially written as a chamber ensemble piece, it was expanded and revised for full orchestra in 2011, with a wind version subsequently commissioned by Gary Green in 2012.
Point Blank is inspired by the sounds, rhythms and virtuosity of New York City-based new music ensemble Alarm Will Sound, who premiered a chamber version of the piece in 2010. Featuring synthetic sound worlds and tightly interlocking percussion ideas, the drum set, timpani and strings whirl the ensemble through an array of electronically inspired orchestrations. Point Blank is a central processing unit of floating point tremelos, discrete pizzicatos, multi-threading scales and random access modulations. In the score Dooley adds: “Point Blank for wind ensemble is inspired by electronic music, in particular a style called Drum & Bass. I explore the interaction between computer-generated musical material
and the human performer. For the wind ensemble’s percussion battery, I transcribe tightly interlocking electronic rhythmic material. The drum set, mallets and timpani whirl the ensemble through an array of electronically inspired orchestrations, while the winds and brass shriek for dear life!”
- Program Note from State University of New York, Fredonia, Wind Symphony concert program, 28 February 2018
Media
- Audio: Sample download; ensemble and conductor unknown
- Audio CD: Dallas Wind Symphony (Howard Dunn, conductor)
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Florida State University (Tallahassee) Wind Orchestra (Rodney Dorsey, conductor) - 22 September 2023
- University of Missouri, Kansas City, Wind Symphony (Steven D. Davis, conductor) - 29 April 2023
- University of Colorado Boulder Wind Symphony (Donald McKinney, conductor) - 15 April 2021
- University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) Symphony Band (JoAnn Wieszczyk, conductor) - 12 March 2021
- Texas All-State Concert Band (Robert Ambrose, conductor) - 15 February 2020 (2020 TMEA Conference, San Antonio)
- Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, Md.) Peabody Wind Ensemble (Harland D. Parker, conductor) – 27 September 2019
- University of Texas (Austin) Wind Symphony (Joshua Gall, conductor) – 4 May 2018
- State University of New York, Fredonia, Wind Symphony (Donna Dolson, conductor) – 28 February 2018
- Kansas State University (Manhattan) Wind Symphony (Jay Gilbert, conductor) – 7 December 2017
- California State University, Stanislaus, Wind Ensemble (Stuart Sims, conductor) - CBDNA Western/Northwestern Division Convention (Reno, Nev.) 14 March 2014
- The Hartt School (Hartford, Conn.) Wind Ensemble (Glen Adsit, conductor) – 7 March 2014 (CBDNA 2014 Eastern Division Conference, Boston, Mass.)
- Westlake High School (Austin, Tx.) Wind Ensemble (Kevin Sedatole, conductor) – 21 December 2013 (2013 Midwest Clinic)
- University of Southern California Thornton Wind Ensemble (Sharon Lavery, conductor) - 4 November 2012
- Northwestern Contemporary Music Ensemble (Tim Robblee, conductor) - 7 March 2012
- Alarm Will Sound - 18 July 2010 (world premiere)
Works for Winds by This Composer
- Boom Goes the Dynamite (2023)
- Canticles (2022)
- Circus Overture (as transcriber) (2015)
- Coast of Dreams (2014)
- Elytra (2022)
- Manifestos (2019)
- March Jubilee (2020/2022)
- Masks and Machines (2015)
- Masks and Machines (chamber instrumentation) (2015/2020)
- Mavericks (2016)
- Meditation at Lagunitas (2014)
- Mondrian's Studio (2019)
- Point Blank (2010)
- Point Blank (Chamber instrumentation) (2010/2020)
- Salt of the Earth (2012)
- The Spellbook (2019)
- Three Futurist Symphonies
- Velocity Festivals. See: Coast of Dreams
- Yellow Red Blue (2021)
Resources
- McCallum, Wendy. "Point Blank." In Teaching Music through Performance in Band. Volume 10, Compiled and edited by Richard Miles, 993-1001. Chicago: GIA Publications, 2015.
- Paul Dooley website Accessed 21 October 2020