Spiritual?

Don Gillis

Don Gillis (arr. Glenn Bainum)

The work is the second movement of the composer's Symphony No 5 1-2

General Info

Year: 1947 / 1954
Duration: c. 3:05
Difficulty: III (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Orchestra
Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes
Cost: Score and Parts – Out of print.

For availability information, see Discussion tab, above.

Instrumentation

Full Score
Flute
Oboe
English Horn
Bassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Cornet Solo-I-II-III
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
E-flat Horn or Alto I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Many of Gillis's titles are in a whimsical vein, for example the fraction of this symphony's title (composed between his fifth and sixth symphonies), and its subtitle A Symphony for Fun. The four movements are named Perpetual Emotion, Spiritual?, Scherzofrenia, and Conclusion.

The slow movement was first transcribed for band by Glenn Cliffe Bainum. Spiritual? features tone color and expressive performance, whereas rhythmic variety and tempo are important in the other three movements.

- Program Note from Program Notes for Band

Commercial Discography

• Audio CD: Ouachita Baptist University Wind Ensemble (Craig V. Hamilton, conductor) - 2012

Media

• Audio: Reference recording. Ouachita Baptist University Wind Ensemble (Craig V. Hamilton, conductor)

State Ratings

• Alabama: Class DCC
• Arkansas: III
• Iowa: IV
• Kansas: III
• Louisiana: III
• Mississippi: V-A
• Oklahoma: III-A
• South Carolina: IV
• Texas: III. Complete

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

• New Mexico State University (Las Cruces) Symphonic Band (William Clark, conductor) - 2012

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

• Just a Closer Walk with Thee (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger; adapt. Brown) (1990/)

All Wind Works

• Bach Chorales for Brass Choir (as arranger)
• Ballet for Band (1965)
• Ceremony of Allegiance (1965)
• The Coming of the Kings
• Downbeat (1958)
• Hymn Song for Sunday (1963)
• The January February March (1950)
• Just a Closer Walk (as arranger; adapt. Barnes) (1988)
• Just a Closer Walk with Thee (as arranger)
• Just a Closer Walk with Thee (Flex instrumentation) (as arranger; adapt. Brown) (1990/)
• The Man Who Invented Music
• Rompin' Stomp, The
• Saga of a Pioneer (1966)
  • The Land Beyond
  • The Pioneers
  • Song of Memory
  • Centennial Celebration
• Short Overture to an Unwritten Opera (1944)
• Spiritual?. See: Spiritual?
• Symphony No 5 1-2 (1947)
  • Spiritual? (arr. Bainum) (1947/1954)
• Tulsa (1957)
• Variations on a Kitchen Sink (1958/1970/2017)

Resources

• Fry, William. The band music of Don Gillis: An annotated catalog. 1991. University of North Carolina at Greensboro, DMA dissertation. Accessed 7 June 2021
• Gillis, D.; Bainum, G. (1968). Spiritual: From Symphony No. 5 ½: A vymphony for Fun [score]. Boosey & Hawke: [New York].
• Smith, Norman E. (2002). Program Notes for Band. Chicago: GIA Publications, pp. 229