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Primal Dances
Contents
General Info
Year: 2018
Duration: c. 6:25
Difficulty: III (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: FJH Music
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $80.00; (digital) - $80.00 | Score Only (print) - $10.00
Instrumentation
Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe
Bassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Contra Alto 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
Horn in F I-II
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV, including:
- Bar Chimes
- Bass Drum
- Bells
- Cabasa
- Chimes
- China Cymbals
- Concert Tom
- Crash Cymbals
- Marimba
- Splash Cymbal
- Suspended Cymbal
- Tam-Tam
- Temple Blocks
- Triangle
- Vibraphone
- Wood Block
- Xylophone
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
While not specifically programmatic, the music is inspired by the raw, primitive nature of its title. Built on a combination of driving, dissonant rhythms and complex harmonies, the piece features modular melodies surrounded by colorful percussion writing. Indicative of evolution, the music begins to develop and become more complex, although it never abandons its primal roots during the process. At times, it feels exploratory. At other moments, it has more of a chaotic, near violent nature.
The transition into the slower, mystical section draws on elements of Stravinsky (referencing elements of both his Rite of Spring and Firebird Suite.) As the slower section unfolds, the listener is lulled by a slow, steady movement of quarter notes under the melody. This builds into a powerful conflict (both harmonically and melodically as bass voices compete with the upper woodwind and brass). The quarter-note pulse returns once again, and eventually moves back into the driving, raw harmonic content of the opening. Familiar melodies begin to surface under new orchestration before moving into a coda section featuring a building woodwind and percussion ostinato. A series of powerful chords emerges under the ostinato, creating harmonic instability. The music becomes more unstable as the chords change duration, while a final ascending statement emerges from horns, saxophones, and euphonium. The ending of the work erupts in a flurry of rhythmic and harmonic intensity before a final unison statement brings the work to a furious conclusion.
- Program Note from Shadow Ridge Middle School Honor Winds concert program, 21 December 2018
Primal in every sense, complex harmonies combine with angular melodies to elicit a visceral and primitive atmosphere. Driven by percussion and a dissonant rhythmic pulse, the music eventually gives way to a slower, mystical section. As its primal nature returns in full force, the work culminates in the punctuated, adrenaline-packed ending.
- Program Note by publisher
Commissioned by the Folly Quarter Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Ellicott City, Maryland, Andrew Spang, conductor.
- Program Note from score
Commercial Discography
None discovered thus far.
Media
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Shadow Ridge Middle School (Flower Mound, Tex.) Honor Winds (Chris Meredith, conductor) - 21 December 2018 (2018 Midwest Clinic)
- Gettysburg (Penn.) College Symphony Band (Russell McCutcheon, conductor) – 16 November 2018
- Folly Quarter Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Ellicott City, Md.) (Andrew Spang, conductor) – 2018 *Premiere Performance*
Works for Winds by this Composer
Adaptable Music
- Arabian Dances (Adaptable Band) (2009/2021)
- Arith-Metric No. 1 (Adaptable Band) (2020)
- Blue Ridge Reel (Adaptable Band) (2013/2020)
- Colliding Visions (Adaptable Band) (2010/2020)
- A Little Matrix Music (Adaptable Band) (2020)
- Moscow, 1941 (Adaptable Band) (2006/2020)
All Wind Works
- African Journey (2001)
- Always United, Forever Strong (2013)
- American Big Top (2018)
- Among the Clouds (2004)
- Apollo (2008)
- Arabian Dances (2009)
- Arabian Dances (Adaptable Band) (2009/2021)
- Arith-Metric No. 1 (Adaptable Band) (2020)
- The Awakening (2003)
- Backstage Pass (2015)
- Beyond the Summit (2004)
- Blue Ridge Reel (2013)
- Blue Ridge Reel (Adaptable Band) (2013/2020)
- Breaking Point (2019)
- Bright Morning Stars
- Bringer of War (2017)
- Call of the Wild (2013)
- Camptown Variations (2001)
- Chant and Savage Dance (2005)
- Chesapeake Serenade (2002)
- Colliding Visions (Adaptable Band) (2010/2020)
- Comet Ride (2006)
- Conquest (2003)
- Courtly Dance and Procession (2004)
- Dragonfly (2001)
- Eagles Among Us (2017)
- Elements (2010)
- Enchantment (2014)
- Endless Rainbows (2013)
- Escapades (2005)
- Escape from the Deep (2010)
- Etowah (2008)
- Evocatio (2014)
- Falcon Fanfare (2012)
- Fanfare Canzonique (2003)
- Fanfare on a Theme of Imagination (2015)
- A Festive Fanfare (2017)
- A Festive Finale (2019)
- Fiesta de los Toros (2017)
- Flight (2005)
- Flight of the Griffin (2003)
- Forever... (2014)
- Fusion (2007)
- Gettysburg
- Grace (2016)
- Groove Music (2013)
- Haunted Clocks (2014)
- Heart of Gold (2020)
- A Hero's Destiny (1999)
- Homage to Bharat (2018)
- A House Divided (2013)
- Hypnotic Fireflies (2013)
- Images of Ireland (2004)
- In Nature's Glory (2002)
- Incantation and Ritual (2004)
- Industrial Loops (2017)
- Infinite Hope (2018)
- Instant Christmas Spirit
- Into the Arctic (2015)
- Invictus (2000)
- Jingle Bell Tones
- Journey By Night (1998)
- Journey for a Soldier (2010)
- Joy in All Things (2012)
- Joy of Life (2015)
- Jungle Dance (2011)
- Kilauea
- Kindred Spirits (2009)
- Legacy
- Legend (2001)
- Legend of the Drop Bear (2016)
- A Light at the End of Forever (2016)
- A Little Matrix Music (Adaptable Band) (2020)
- Loudoun Praises (2005)
- Love and Light (2020)
- Lullaby to the Moon (2017)
- Majestica (2006)
- Marche Diabolique (2014)
- Metal (2013)
- Metamorphic Dances (2019)
- Midnight on Main Street (2009)
- Midnight Suite
- Midnight Mission (2006)
- Midnight Sky (2006)
- Midnight Madness (2007)
- Miramar Fanfare (2003)
- Moscow, 1941 (2006)
- Moscow, 1941 (Adaptable Band) (2006/2020)
- Motion (2006)
- Nevermore (2011)
- Not Afraid to Dream (2006)
- O Mio Babbino Caro (2000)
- Of Emperors and Chariots (2000)
- Olympia
- Open Space (2014)
- Parade of the Jesters (2002)
- Pele (2004)
- Phasing Thunder (2014)
- Pikes Peak (2019)
- Primal Dances (2018)
- Proclamation (2000)
- Proudly We Hail (as arranger) (1814/2002)
- Raging Machines (2008)
- Rain (2008)
- Renaissance Reimagined (2017)
- Reverberations (2009)
- Rhythms and Riffs (2008)
- Rippling Watercolors (2015)
- Rite of Passage (2000)
- Rocky Mountain Romp (2007)
- Sapier's Story
- Shadow Waltzes (2016)
- Shadows Unleashed (2013)
- Shenandoah Triptych (2002)
- Shrine of the Fallen (2016)
- Silence Overwhelmed (2010)
- Smithsonian Suite (2003)
- A Solitary Wish (2017/2018)
- Sound Prisms (2002)
- Sparks (2007)
- Spirit of the Stallion (2016)
- Spontaneous Beings (2017)
- Star Above, Shine Brightly (2001)
- The Star-Spangled Banner (as arranger) (1814/2014)
- Starscapes (2007)
- Summer Dances (2000)
- Summer Resounding! (2008)
- Summit City (2006)
- Sun Cycles (2012)
- Swirling Prisms
- Symphonic Episodes (2004)
- Symphony No. 1 for Brass (1998)
- Synthesis (2016)
- Temple of the Murals (2011)
- That Which Binds Us (2015)
- Three Celtic Dances (2008)
- Thrill Ride (2019)
- Through Courageous Eyes (2003)
- Thunderbolt Fanfare (2019)
- Trust in Angels (2017)
- Twittering Machine (2017)
- A View of the World (2001)
- Waves (2007)
- When Spirits Soar (2006)
- Whispering Winds (2003)
- Winged Victory (2007)
- Winter Dances (2001)
- Within the Castle Walls (2012)
Resources
- Brian Balmages website Accessed 15 September 2020
- Perusal score