Symphony in Blue & Gold

Erika Svanoe

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General Info

Year: 2023
Duration: c. 19:00
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Swan Maiden Press (in press)
Cost: Score and Parts - Available June 2024

Movements

1. Blue and Fugues
2. in Gold
3. Waltz
4. Finale

Instrumentation

(Needed - please join the WRP if you can help.)

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

Symphony in Blue & Gold was commissioned to celebrate the 100th anniversary of bands at my alma mater, the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

As a starting point, I researched and studied two significant pieces in wind band literature that were composed around the time the band was first formed on campus. These were La création du monde (1923) by Darius Milhaud and Rhapsody in Blue (1924) by George Gershwin, specifically the original dance band version orchestrated by Ferde Grofé. Both pieces use a combination of classical and jazz influences, and this felt very reflective of my own experience as a music student at UWEC.

Overall, the piece uses a modified four-movement symphony plan. The first movement, Blues and Fugues, alternates a standard 12-bar blues with two four-voice fugues. The opening tenor saxophone solo presents the UWEC melodic material that appears throughout all four movements. The second movement, in Gold, focuses on timbres played by metallic instruments and introduces the other main melodic material, which musically spells out BLUGLD. The third movement is a waltz and the final movement, Finale, expands and combines material from the previous three movements.

I am so honored to have the opportunity to write Symphony in Blue &Gold for a place where I had so much musical and personal growth. I truly took this opportunity to heart, and tried to grow my own compositional voice and craft while writing this piece as a tribute to a place that was so important in my educational journey.

- Program Note by composer

Media

Audio: Reference recording. University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Wind Symphony (John R. Stewart, conductor)

State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Wind Symphony (John R. Stewart, conductor) – 30 April 2023 *Premiere Performance*

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

Mary Shelley Meets Frankenstein (Flex instrumentation) (2014/2020)
Steampunk Scenes (Flex instrumentation) (2015/2021)

All Wind Works

Band of Heroes (2018)
Baskerville (2019)
Category 4 (2021)
Claremont Triumphant (2011)
Clocktower Fanfare (2016)
Echoes (2018)
El Salon Mexico (as arranger) (2009)
First Suite Fanfare (2020)
Florence & Alice (2021)
Four Grainger Songs (as arranger) (2003)
The Haunted Carousel (2015)
A Journey in Time (2020)
Like the Wind
Mary Shelley Meets Frankenstein (2014/2019)
Mary Shelley Meets Frankenstein (Flex instrumentation) (2014/2019/2020)
She Dares, She Leaps (2022)
Springtime Ride (2018)
Steampunk Scenes (Flex instrumentation) (2015/2021)
Steampunk Suite (2015/2017)
Symphony in Blue & Gold (2023)
The Town Band (2022)
Tutued Toucan Can-Can (2021)
Where no one has gone before (2023)

Resources

Erika Svanoe website Accessed 12 May 2023