Storm and Urge

Edward Fairlie

General Info

Year: 2015
Duration: c. 9:00
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $125.00; (digital) - $125.00 | Score Only (print) - $15.00

Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe
Bassoon
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Saxophone
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
B-flat Flugelhorn
Horn in F I-II
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Timpani (and large cymbal to place on head)
Percussion I-II-III-IV, including:

Bass Drum
Brake Drums (2)
Bucket (filled with bolts)
Chimes
Crash Cymbals
Finger cymbals
Glockenspiel
Snare Drum (small cymbal placed on top)
Suspended Cymbals (small, medium, large)
Toms (3)
Triangle
Vibraphone

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Storm and Urge is the literal English translation of the German "Sturm und Drang," a literary and musical movement of the late 1700s. "Sturm und Drang" was all about extremes of emotion and the individual's response to them. Storm and Urge is a journey of emotional turbulence.

A hallmark of the examined life is the need, every now and again, for upheaval. Something comes along to put a stone in your shoe -- as if to say, "it's time to grow." This piece tracks that journey.

It begins with a simple, reflective theme signifying the everyday. A fragment of the melody is repeated three times at the end of this short theme, growing less comfortable each time, until it can't be ignored; something is wrong. We enter the realm of uncertainty. This period of uncertainty is confusing, disconcerting -- the music is marked "Unsettling." It evokes a small boat caught in a heavy storm, where the perceived threat of danger is very real. Then, suddenly, the storm breaks and there is a glimmer of recognition, of clarity.

Then we encounter resistance. With any worthwhile personal growth, there is always an element of resistance, a desire to hang on to the old, comfortable, safe version of oneself; a reluctance to venture into the unpredictable future. The music provides a grinding, industrial backdrop as we hang on by our fingernails to the present. Again, the "glimmer" is heard: that shaft of light that is like a gleam of insight.

A tranquil calm is restored as the original theme cautiously returns. As it builds, the main melody from the time of uncertainty is presented again, but now in a different harmonic context. It builds further and soon the melody from the time of uncertainty can be recognized, also given a new life. These melodies, like scars, serve as reminders of what we have been through, and of the fact that they are not to be feared, but considered as part of our identity. We are as we were before, but galvanized by the self-knowledge and wisdom that comes with going through the "Sturm und Drang." As the piece ends, we go back into life having grown a little.

- Program Note by composer