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Rock Bottom
General Info
Year: 2020
Duration: c. 6:00
Difficulty: IV (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Derek M. Jenkins
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $150.00; (digital) - $60.00 | Score Only (print) - $10.00; (digital) - $30.00
Instrumentation
Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
Contrabassoon
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
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
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV
(percussion detail desired)
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
How wonderful it is that nobody need
wait a single moment before starting
to improve the world.
- Anne Frank
The phrase "rock bottom" tends to evoke a very negative connotation, denoting that we have reached our lowest possible point. One example of reaching rock bottom was the stock market crash of 1929-1930, the event around which this piece is built. However, there is a positive side to hitting rock bottom, and that is in the fact that if we are already at the very bottom, we can only move upwards going forward. Reaching rock bottom then becomes an optimistic view as one looks to the future.
While the stock market was crashing, Arkansas State University embarked on a new endeavor: the creation of a band program. This fledgling band began with sixteen members and a large amount of hope. In the ninety years since, the A-State Bands have grown beyond the scope of that initial ensemble to become a mainstay on the Arkansas State University campus and now include several concert and athletic bands. In a sense that first band provided the bedrock upon which future bands could flourish as they were at a "rock bottom" moment looking forward towards a bright and prosperous future.
Rock Bottom was commissioned by Timothy Oliver and the Arkansas State University Wind Ensemble in honor of the 90th anniversary of the A-State Bands.
- Program Note by composer
Awards
- 3rd Annual WASBE Composition Competition (Category 2), 2022, first prize
- 1st Annual Grand Mesa Publications Band Composition and Arrangement Contest, 2021, finalist
- The American Prize (Composition-Band/Wind Ensemble [Professional Division]), 2021, finalist
Media
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Czech National Concert Band (Václav Blahunek, conductor) - 21 July 2022 (3rd WASBE International Composition Contest)
- Arkansas State University (Jonesboro) Wind Ensemble (Tim Oliver, conductor) – 20 February 2020 (CBDNA 2020 Southwestern Division Conference, Norman, Okla.) *Premiere Performance*
Works for Winds by This Composer
Adaptable Music
- Fountains (Adaptable Band) (2014/2020)
- Kolo (Flex instrumentation) (2015/2020)
- Solar Flare (Flex instrumentation) (2019/2020)
All Wind Works
- Blue Marble: A Symphony for Wind Ensemble
- Boreas: The North Wind
- Eosphorus: The Morning Star
- Fountains (2014/2017)
- Fountains (Adaptable Band) (2014/2020)
- in transit
- inertia
- into air, into thin air (2023)
- Kolo (2015)
- Kolo (Flex instrumentation) (2015/2020)
- Rock Bottom (2020)
- Solar Flare (2018)
- Solar Flare (Flex instrumentation) (2019/2020)
- Quintet for Winds No 1
- We Seven (2014)
Resources
- Derek M. Jenkins website Accessed 9 February 2020