To Be Fed By Ravens

W. Francis McBeth

This work bears the designation Opus 52.

General Info

Year: 1975
Duration: c. 11:35
Difficulty: VI (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Southern Music Company
Cost: Score and Parts - $75.00 | Score Only - $8.75

Instrumentation

Full Score
Piccolo
Flute I-II-III
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Cornet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion I-II, including:

Bass Drum
Crash Cymbals
Glockenspiel
Gong (or Tam-Tam)
Tom-Toms (4, tuneable)
Snare Drum
Suspended Cymbal
Triangle
Tubular Bells
Vibraphone
Xylophone

Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

To Be Fed by Ravens is a modern work for the wind band that explores many of the colors and rhythmic harmonic devices so richly available to the contemporary composer. The work was commissioned by and dedicated to the Texas Music Educators' Association. Dr. McBeth was reared in Texas and then lived in Arkansas. He was a prolific composer of music for the wind band and wrote this composition as a musical gesture of love and appreciation to his music teachers who "fed" him during his days as a student in Texas.

The title To Be Fed by Ravens comes from the Old Testament, I Kings: 17 where the prophet Elijah warns King Ahab of an impending drought. Then God said to Elijah, "Go to the east and hide by Cherith Brook at a place east of where it enters the Jordan River. Drink from the brook and eat that the ravens bring you, for I have commanded them to feed you. So he did as the Lord had told him, and camped beside the brook. The ravens brought him bread and meat each morning and evening and he drank from the brook.

Although not programmatic in nature, one can hear the sounds of a parched earth as Elijah traveled to the east, as well as see the awesome sight of ravens circling overhead, and feel the proclamations of faith and obedience on the part of Elijah.

- Program Note by William V. Johnson for the Cuesta Wind Ensemble concert program, 11 May 1991

Media

Audio: George Washington University Band - 2012

State Ratings

Florida: VI

Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

Works for Winds by This Composer

Adaptable Music

Battaglia (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Barber) (1967/2021)

All Wind Works

Air and Dance (2005)
Annabel Lee (2004)
Battaglia (1967)
Battaglia (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Barber) (1967/2021)
Beowulf (1966)
Caccia (1980)
Canticle (1969)
Cantique and Faranade (1967)
Canto (1977)
Capriccio Concertant (1976)
Cavata (1981)
Chant and Jubilo (1963)
Chase (2006)
The Coventry (2003)
Daniel in the Lion's Den (1991/1994)
Divergents
Drammatico (1970)
Drayton Hall Esprit (1992)
The Dream Catcher (1997)
Estampie (2000)
The Feast of Trumpets (!982)
Festive Centennial (1974)
The Fifth Trumpeter (1989)
Flourishes (1982)
Grace Praeludium (1982)
Intermezzo from "Manon Lescaut" (as arranger) (1893/1984)
It is Well
Joyant Narrative (1966)
Kaddish (1976)
Keltic Dances (2004)
Lauds and Tropes (1997)
The Lions of North Bridge (2000)
Masque (1968)
Mosaic (!964)
Of Sailors and Whales (1989)
Praises (1984)
Reflections Past (1965)
The Sacred Flame
Scaramouche (2002)
The Sea Treaders (1996)
Second Suite for Band (1961)
The Seventh Seal (1972)
Third Movement from "Symphony No. 2" (Hanson) (as arranger) (1930/1983)
Symphonic Dance No. 1, "Comanche Ritual" (as transcriber) (1965/2013)
They Hung Their Harps in the Willows (1988)
This Land of El Dorado (1993)
Through Countless Halls of Air (1995)
To Be Fed By Ravens (1975)
To the Unknowns (1987)
When Honor Whispers and Shouts (1998)
When Rossi Strikes
Wine From These Grapes (1992)
With Sounding Trumpets (1987)

Resources

McBeth, W. (1975). To Be Fed by Ravens: For Symphonic Band [score]. Southern Music Co.: San Antonio, Tx.