Requiem for the Unarmed
General Info
Year: 2020 / 2022
Duration: c. 9:25
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Murphy Music Press
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $150.00 | Score Only (print) - $35.00
Instrumentation
Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
Contrabassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III-IV
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Saxophone
E-flat Alto Saxophone
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III-IV
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III-IV
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Celeste (or Piano)
Timpani
Percussion, including:
- Bass Drum
- Chimes
- Glockenspiel
- Marimba
- Snare Drum
- Suspended Cymbal
- Tom-tom
Players marching and humming
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
On May 25, 2020, Minneapolis resident George Floyd was murdered by police officers, one of which had a knee on his neck, cutting off all oxygen to his brain. Floyd's last words, the same words used by Eric Garner in 2014, echo across the United States and through the word [sic].
"I. can't. breathe."
Seeing the footage of his murder on television, my heart sank and I felt incredibly sick to my stomach. I couldn't believe what I had witnessed, and it took me weeks to process what had transpired. Someone who looks like me was just murdered in cold blood by law enforcement. I can recall the many people that also look like me that were murdered in similar fashion, both by law enforcement and by civilians with racist intent. Their names became social media hashtags, and ring in the hearts of every black man, woman, and child in the United States.
Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Philando Castile, Treyvon Martin, Ahmaud Arbery, Atatiana Jefferson, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd…
A growing list of names. The unarmed black victims of racial injustice.
Too many names to count.
Requiem for the Unarmed is my musical response to the death of George Floyd and to black lives lost due to racial injustice in the United States. This piece is meant to be a memorial to those lives lost and is my plea and prayer.
May this happen no more.
- Program Note by composer
Media
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- California State University Northridge Wind Ensemble (Lawrence Stoffel, conductor) - 10 October 2023
- University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire Wind Symphony (John R. Stewart, conductor) - 17 February 2023 (MMEA Conference, Minneapolis, Minn.)
- Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, Ohio) Symphonic Winds (Ryan Scherber, conductor) - 4 February 2023
- University of Delaware (Newark) Symphonic Band (James P. Ancona, conductor) – 1 December 2022
- Lakeside Pride Music Ensembles (Chicago, Ill.) Symphonic Band (Kyle Rhoades, conductor) - 19 November 2022
- Northshore Concert Band (Mallory Thompson, conductor) - 16 November 2022
- Southeastern Louisiana University (Hammond) Wind Symphony (Robert Schwartz, conductor) - 15 November 2022
- Northshore Concert Band (Mallory Thompson, conductor) - 6 November 2022
- National Concert Band of America (Alexandria, Va.) (Adrian Holton, conductor) - 23 October 2022
- Sonoma State University (Rohnert Park, Calif.) Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Andy Collinsworth, conductor) - 7 October 2022
- San Jose (Calif.) State University Wind Ensemble (David Vickerman, conductor) – 18 March 2022 (CBDNA 2022 Western/Northwestern Conference, Tacoma, Wash.)
- California All-State High School (Fresno) Wind Symphony (Cynthia Johnston-Turner, conductor) – 19 February 2022 (2022 CASMEC Conference, Fresno) *Premiere Performance*
Works for Winds by This Composer
Adaptable Music
- Dancing Fire (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Trentadue) (2016/2020)
- Ember Skies (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Trentadue) (2020/2022)
- Havana (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Trentadue) (2018/2020)
- A Hymn for Peace (Flex instrumentation) (2017/2020)
- Lightning Round (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Trentadue) (2022)
- Rocketship! (Flex instrumentation) (2017/2020)
All Wind Works
- All the Day Long (2017)
- Aurora (arr. Trentadue) (2021/2023)
- Christmas in Spain (2016)
- Concerto for Euphonium and Wind Ensemble (2018)
- Concerto for Wind Ensemble (2021)
- Dancing Fire (2016)
- Dancing Fire (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Trentadue) (2016/2020)
- Deep Blue (2022)
- Dual Strides (2022)
- Ecstatic Samba (arr. Trentadue) (2017/2022)
- Ember Skies (2021)
- Ember Skies (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Trentadue) (2020/2022)
- enter data sequence (arr. Trentadue) (2022)
- The Essence of Being (arr. Trentadue) (2021/2022)
- Fantasia for Alto Sax and Marimba (2016)
- Fireworks (2015)
- Flash Fury (2023)
- Galactic Voyage (2018)
- Ignition (2018/2020)
- Havana (2018)
- Havana (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Trentadue) (2018/2020)
- A Hymn for Peace (2017)
- A Hymn for Peace (Flex instrumentation) (2017/2020)
- J.R. (2017)
- Lightning Round (2022)
- Lightning Round (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Trentadue) (2022)
- Metallic Figures
- More than Words... (2020)
- MOTO (2023)
- Night Sketches I (2016)
- Nitrous (2020)
- On Shores of Endless Sea (2022)
- Pyrotechnics (2019)
- Requiem for the Unarmed (2020/2022)
- River Memoria (2022)
- Rocketship! (2017)
- Rocketship! (Flex instrumentation) (2017/2020)
- Sangre Royal (2023)
- Shimmering Sunshine (2019). See also: Of Day and Night
- Solace in the Wind (arr. Trentadue) (2020/2023)
- A Song for Tomorrow (2019)
- Summit (2020)
- Symphony Basquiat (2023)
- Tango Oscuro (arr. Trentadue) (2020/2022)
- Unquiet Waters (2020/2023)
- Variation V (arr. Collins) (2020/2022)
- Windborne (2022)
Resources
- Kevin Day website Accessed 19 February 2022
- Perusal score