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Thesis
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General Info
Year: 2017
Duration: c. 10:15
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Manuscript
Cost: Score and Parts - Unknown
Instrumentation
Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Cornet I-II-III
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion, including:
- Crash Cymbals
- Marimba
- Orchestra Chimes
- Suspended Cymbal
- Triangle
- Vibraphone
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
The title Thesis No. 1 is a reference to the composer’s master’s thesis in partial fulfillment of his Master of Arts degree in composition and theory at San Francisco State University. Like his original thesis, entitled Examination of the Hero in a Time of War (on a poem by Wallace Stevens), Thesis No. 1 relies on an identical tonal pattern which begins with a single pitch, C. This pitch is exploited by the ensemble throughout the first section before adding a second pitch, B-flat. Subsequent pitches are then added one by one, until by the end of the piece all twelve tones of the chromatic scale are sounding and used in various patterns.
In the final section, the composer sets up an exciting rhythmic sequence culminating in chromatic scales driving the work back to middle C. There it sits for a few seconds before moving slowly and chromatically back to a final twelve-tone chord. After sustaining this dissonant chord for a few seconds, the ensemble plays the final chromatic flourish back to middle C, followed by two understated, short unison tags on, you guessed it, C.
- Program Note by composer
Media
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- San Luis Obispo (Calif.) Wind Orchestra (David Rackley, conductor) – 3 June 2018 *Premiere Performance*
Works for Winds by This Composer
- Armistice
- Big Top Rag (2009)
- Calafia Overture
- Calico Jack (2021)
- Comstock Overture (2013)
- Fanfare and Processional (Rackley) (2011)
- High Wire Waltz (2015)
- March of the Clowns
- Memorial (2016)
- Suite No. 3 for Wind Orchestra (2019)
- Sweet
- Task Force (2008)
- Thesis #1 (2017)
- Triptych (2018)
- Trance Warp March (2017)
Resources
None discovered thus far.