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Primal Dances
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 from publisher
Commissioned by the Folly Quarter Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Ellicott City, Maryland, Andrew Spang, conductor.
- Program Note from score
Media
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Blacksburg) Symphony Band (Chad Reep, conductor) - 15 October 2021
- 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)
- Focal Point (Adaptable Band) (2021)
- Focal Point. See also: Suite Treats
- Jungle Dance (Adaptable Band) (2011/2022)
- A Little Matrix Music (Adaptable Band) (2020)
- Moscow, 1941 (Adaptable Band) (2006/2020)
All Wind Works
- 3, 2, 1... (2019)
- Action Scene (2022)
- African Journey (2001)
- Always United, Forever Strong (2013)
- American Big Top (2018)
- Among the Clouds (2004)
- Apollo (2008)
- Apparitions (2010)
- Arabian Dances (2009)
- Arabian Dances (Adaptable Band) (2009/2021)
- Arctic Wars (2020)
- Arith-Metric No. 1 (Adaptable Band) (2020)
- The Awakening (2003)
- Backstage Pass (2015)
- Beyond the Summit (2004)
- Blue Ridge Impressions (2001)
- Blue Ridge Reel (2013)
- Blue Ridge Reel (Adaptable Band) (2013/2020)
- Boom and Bust (2018)
- Breaking Point (2019)
- Breaking Through (2021)
- Bright Morning Stars
- Bringer of War (2017)
- The Broken Marionette (2014)
- Call of the Wild (2013)
- Camptown Variations (2001)
- Centennium (2021)
- Central Junction (2011)
- Chant and Savage Dance (2005)
- Chesapeake Serenade (2002)
- Clutch
- Colliding Visions (2010)
- Colliding Visions (Adaptable Band) (2010/2020)
- Comet Ride (2006)
- Concerto for Two Hands (2015)
- Conquest (2003)
- Courtly Dance and Procession (2004)
- Creatures in the Attic (2010)
- The Crystal Fountain (2022)
- Dragonfly (2001)
- Eagles Among Us (2017)
- Electricity (2009)
- Elements (2010)
- Enchantment (2013)
- Endless Rainbows (2013)
- Escapades (2005/2017)
- Escape from the Deep (2010)
- Etowah (2008)
- Evocatio (2014)
- Falcon Fanfare (2012)
- Fanfare Canzonique (2003)
- Fanfare Forza (2022)
- Fanfare Heroica (2011)
- Fanfare and Fireworks (2012)
- Fanfare on a Theme of Imagination (2015)
- A Festive Fanfare (2017)
- A Festive Finale (2019)
- Fiesta de los Toros (2017)
- The Fire's Fury (2022)
- Flight (2005)
- Flight of the Griffin (2003)
- Focal Point (Adaptable Band) (2021)
- Focal Point. See also: Suite Treats
- Forever... (2014)
- Fusion (2007)
- Gateways (2018)
- Gettysburg (2002)
- Grace (2016)
- Gravity Wave (2011)
- 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 (2012)
- Ichabod Fanfare (2011)
- Images of Ireland (2004)
- In Nature's Glory (2002)
- Incantation and Ritual (2004)
- Industrial Loops (2017)
- Infinite Hope (2018)
- Instant Christmas Spirit (2001)
- Into the Arctic (2015)
- Invictus (2000)
- Jingle Bell Tones (2004)
- Journal for a Soldier (2010)
- Journey By Night (1998)
- Joy in All Things (2012)
- Joy of Life (2015)
- Jungle Dance (2011)
- Jungle Dance (Adaptable Band) (2011/2022)
- Kilauea (2005)
- Kindred Spirits (2009)
- Kitsune: The Fox Spirits (2010)
- Kyiv, 2022 (2022)
- Legacy (2002)
- Legend (2001)
- Legend of the Drop Bear (2016)
- A Life Worth Living (2023)
- 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 (2005)
- Midnight Sky (2006)
- Midnight Madness (2007)
- Miles of Blue (2020)
- Miramar Fanfare (2003)
- Moscow, 1941 (2006)
- Moscow, 1941 (Adaptable Band) (2006/2020)
- Motion (2006)
- Nevermore (2011)
- Not Afraid to Dream (2006)
- The Nutcracker (as arranger) (2008)
- O Mio Babbino Caro (2000)
- Of Emperors and Chariots (2000)
- Olympia (2005)
- Open Space (2014)
- Parade of the Jesters (2002)
- Pele (2004)
- Phasing Thunder (2014)
- Pikes Peak (2019)
- Pixelated World (2020)
- Pride of the Clipper (2020)
- Primal Dances (2018)
- Proclamation (2000)
- Proudly We Hail (as arranger) (1814/2002)
- Radiance (2018)
- Raging Machines (2008)
- Rain (2008)
- Rapture (2022)
- Renaissance Reimagined (2017)
- Reverberations (2009)
- Rhythms and Riffs (2008)
- Rippling Watercolors (2015)
- Rise of the Bladesmith (2012)
- Rite of Passage (2000)
- Rocky Mountain Romp (2007)
- Sapier's Story (2002)
- Scenes from an Ocean Voyage (2009)
- A Scottish Festival (2021)
- 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)
- The Spirit of Aloha (2015)
- Spirit of the Stallion (2016)
- Spontaneous Beings (2017)
- Stages (2021)
- Stampede (2010)
- Star Above, Shine Brightly (2001)
- The Star-Spangled Banner (as arranger) (1814/2014)
- Starscapes (2007)
- Starsplitter Fanfare (2009)
- Still (2012)
- Suite Treats. See: Focal Point
- Summer Dances (2000)
- Summer Resounding! (2008)
- Summit City (2006)
- Sun Cycles (2012)
- Super (Em)Powers (2020)
- Swirling Prisms (2017)
- Symphonic Episodes (2004)
- Symphony No. 1 for Brass (1998)
- Synthesis (2016)
- The Tears of Arizona (2016)
- Temple of the Murals (2011)
- That Which Binds Us (2015)
- Three Celtic Dances (2008)
- Thrill Ride (2019)
- Through Courageous Eyes (2003)
- Through the Mist (2009)
- Thunderbolt Fanfare (2019)
- To Dance Among the Stars (2020)
- Tomorrow's Yesterdays (2011)
- Trust in Angels (2017)
- Twittering Machine (2017)
- Unknown (2022)
- A View of the World (2001)
- Waves (2007)
- Whale Warriors (2009)
- What I Do Today... (2022)
- When Spirits Soar (2006)
- Whispering Winds (2003)
- Winged Victory (2007)
- Wings to the Mind (2021)
- Winter Dances (2001)
- Within the Castle Walls (2012)
Resources
- Brian Balmages website Accessed 15 September 2020
- Perusal score