|
Please DONATE to help with maintenance and upkeep of the Wind Repertory Project!
|
Suspended
Subtitle: Symphony for Winds, Percussion and Pre-Recorded Soundscape
General Info
Year: 2021
Duration: c. 25:20
Difficulty: V+ (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Activist Music
Cost: Score and Parts (digital) - $700.00 | Score Only (digital) - $50.00
Movements may be purchased and programmed separately, which see.
Movements (may be played separately)
1. Airborne – 4:45
2. Distanced – 8:55
3. Masked – 4:52
4. Viral – 5:55
Instrumentation
Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II
Horn in F I-II
Trombone I-II
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Piano
Timpani
Percussion, including:
- Bass Drum
- Chimes
- China Cymbal (large)
- Crash Cymbals
- Glockenspiel (2)
- Marimba
- Ping-Pong Balls (at least 10)
- Snare Drum
- Suspended Cymbals (2)
- Tom-tom
- Vibraphone
- Xylophones (2)
Laptop for audio track playback
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
Suspended is an emotional journey, and the catharsis I felt throughout the eight months of writing it helped keep me sane amidst a world of dismal uncertainty. The piece is composed in the tradition of an 18th century Classical symphony: four contrasting movements which serve specific functions and reveal a story. The work begins in absolute rage and chaos, then alternates between moments of grief and bleakness. Grim reality shifts to a macabre, circus-like insanity, and by the end, flickers of genuine hope contrast a pervasive sense of dread, and finally arrive at more optimistic possibilities.
Airborne is the sole movement that's purely acoustic, with no accompaniment audio soundscape. It launches the symphony upward with a tightly motivic sonata form of short repeating passages, in an unrelenting, ever-swirling and disorienting wake-up call. Scream with me.
Distanced is an anthemic, pensive unravelling which begins in anguished melancholy and expands to a raw, poignant wail. Cry with me.
Masked is composed in the exact shape of a Classical minuet and trio waltz, though the music -- a whimsical if somewhat demented masked ball (or, balls, in this case) -- bears little connection to that of Mozart or Haydn. Historically, third movement minuets gave way to the joke-like scherzo, and the trio section tips its hat to some welcome levity. Laugh with me.
Viral ends the work with an energetic, percussively driven seven-part rondo. Light is trying to break through the weight of the times in a frenzied and unresolved push to the final exuberant, insistent notes. Dance with me!
As for the title: our lives have been suspended in countless ways: suspension of daily patterns due to the global Coronavirus pandemic, suspension of social justice and human rights, suspension of the U.S. government as it was held hostage by a vile cult leader and treasonous insurrectionists, and the overall suspension of decency as social media amplifies the most base and ugly instincts among people.
Surely, we can do better.
A piece of music should stand on its own, regardless of any message its composer may attach to it. Audiences don't read about music: they listen to it. But as Victor Hugo wrote, "Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent".
The arts have a powerful role in improving society by awakening consciousness through thought-provoking, emotional moments. If a piece of music can spark conversation among listeners, that is a meaningful impact, and a benefit in addition to that of the notes themselves.
- Program Note by composer
Suspended was commissioned by Kappa Kappa Psi, National Band Fraternity, and Tau Beta Sigma, National Band Sorority, for the 2021 National Intercollegiate Band.
- Program Note from WASBE
Media
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- University of South Carolina (Columbia) Symphonic Winds (Jay Jacobs, conductor) - 13 April 2023
- Eastman School of Music (Rochester, N.Y.) Wind Ensemble (Cynthia Johnston Turner, conductor) - 23 March 2022
- San Jose (Calif.) State University Wind Ensemble (David Vickerman, conductor) – 18 March 2022 (CBDNA 2022 Western/Northwestern Conference, Tacoma, Wash.)
- University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Glenn C. Hayes, conductor) - 7 November 2021
- Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma National Intercollegiate Band (Grand Rapids, Mich.) (Cynthia Johnston Turner, conductor) – 13 July 2021 *Premiere Performance*
Works for Winds by This Composer
Adaptable Music
- Count to Ten (Adaptable Band) (2021)
- Kitchen Sync (Adaptable Band) (2021)
- Kitchen Sync. See also: Suite Treats
- Passages (Adaptable Band) (2020)
All Wind Works
- Ascent (2020)
- Beneath. See: Immersion (2010)
- Bioplasm (flute choir) (2004/2012)
- Bioplasm (flute quartet) (2004)
- Breathe (2020)
- Count to Ten (Adaptable Band) (2021)
- Depth. See: Immersion
- Even Deeper (2014)
- Free (2022)
- Homecoming (2008)
- Immersion (2010)
- Kitchen Sync (Adaptable Band) (2021)
- Kitchen Sync. See also: Suite Treats
- Lights Out (2015)
- Liquid Compass (2014)
- Moment (2016)
- Off the Edge (2019)
- Paper Cut (2010)
- Passages (Adaptable Band) (2020)
- Pop Music (2022)
- Rock Music (2016)
- Surface. See: Immersion (2010)
- Suspended (2021)
- Tight Squeeze (2012)
- Train of Thought (sextet) (2015)
- Trains of Thought (concert band) (2015/2017)
Resources
- Alex Shapiro website Accessed 14 July 2021
- "SUSPENDED Symphony for Winds, Percussion, and Pre-recorded Soundscape by Alex Shapiro (USA, 1962)." WASBE. Web. (Featured as WASBE’s Composition of the Week, 13 June 2022). Accessed 6 January 2023