Slippery Slope

From Wind Repertory Project
Shuying Li

Shuying Li


General Info

Year: 2013
Duration: c. 13:10
Difficulty: VI (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Shuying Li Music, through Murphy Music Press
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $250.00   |   Score Only (print) - $50.00


Movements

1. I – 2:25
2. II – 7:25
3. III – 2:50


Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute I-II-III-IV (all doubling Piccolo)
Oboe I-II
English Horn
Bassoon I-II
Contrabassoon
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Saxophone
E-flat Alto Saxophone
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Piano
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV, including:

  • Bass Drum
  • Bongos
  • Castanets
  • Chimes
  • Cowbell
  • Crash Cymbals
  • Glockenspiel
  • Marimba
  • Ratchet
  • Snare Drum
  • Suspended Cymbal
  • Tam-tam
  • Temple Blocks
  • Tom-toms (5)
  • Triangle
  • Vibraphone
  • Whip
  • Xylophone


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

As a composer, the first decision I have to make concerns the process. The first note of Slippery Slope was put to paper only after I had the whole second movement in mind — at that time, this was the one and only movement, and it was not until I had almost finished the movement that I developed ideas about the third movement, and the first, chronologically.

There are different levels, definitions, and interpretations about the idea of a “slippery slope” in the piece. While the second movement. or the main movement, explores various relationships between two different musical personalities (one rigid and angular, the other lyrical and emotional), and constrains every possible growth from developing into a final climax until the very last moment, the third movement offers the audience straightforward and undisguised excitement with the partially humorous, partially passionate journey as it takes so much effort to arrive the peak (the second movement is indeed the longest) before slipping down the slope. Consider the first movement as a mystifying preparation interrupted by several “trailers” — fragments from the subsequent two movements, that either reveal or obscure what will happen next.

Slippery Slope is dedicated to my mentor Glen Adsit, and is a gift to The Hartt Wind Ensemble, where I served as pianist during my undergraduate schooling.

Slippery Slope is the winner of the 2014 ASCAP/CBDNA Frederick Fennell Prize.

- Program Note adapted from composer by Luke Camarillo


Awards

  • ASCAP/CBDNA Frederick Fennell Prize, 2014, winner


Media


State Ratings

None discovered thus far.


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • Eastman School of Music (Rochester, N.Y.) Wind Orchestra (Luke Camarillo, conductor) - 23 March 2022
  • Hartt Wind Ensemble (West Hartford, Conn.) (Glen Adsit, conductor) – 7 February 2014 *Premiere Performance*


Works for Winds by This Composer


Resources

  • The Horizon Leans Forward…, compiled and edited by Erik Kar Jun Leung, GIA Publications, 2021, p. 391.
  • Li, S. (2014). Slippery Slope: For Symphonic Wind Ensemble (2014) [score]. Shuying Li Music: [United States].
  • Perusal score
  • Shuying Li website Accessed 7 February 2021