Trail of Tears
General Info
Year: 1990
Duration: c. 6:40
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Southern Music Company
Cost: Score and Parts - $90.00 | Score Only - $8.75
Instrumentation
Full Score
Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon I-II
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Contra-Alto Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophones I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophones
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
Double Bass
Timpani
Percussion, including:
- Bass Drum
- Crash Cymbals
- Field Drum
- Gong
- Sleigh Bells
- Snare Drum
- Suspended Cymbal
- Tambourine
- Triangle
Players chanting and stamping
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
Composed in the summer of 1989, Trail of Tears is a tone poem for wind band that describes the 150th anniversary of one of the most cruel, unjust and embarrassing official actions in the history of the United States government. In 1838-39, federal troops rounded up many members of the "Five Civilized Indian Tribes" who were living in the Southeastern U.S.: the Cherokees, Choctaws, Creeks, Chickasaws and the Seminoles. Despite a landmark decision rendered by the legendary Supreme Court Justice John Marshall stating that the members of these tribes could not be moved off their sovereign lands because of a prior treaty granting them this territory, troops were ordered to move all of these Native Americans by forced march in the dead of winter over 1500 arduous miles to what was then known as "Indian Territory", now the eastern portion of the state of Oklahoma.
On this tragic journey more than 4,000 Native Americans perished from starvation, exhaustion and exposure to the elements. It is an event that will be forever ingrained in the memory of our Native Americans; a tragic sequence of events inflamed by political pressure, the greed of white settlers for more land, and irrational fear of Indians, and downright racial bigotry.
The music opens with solo flute, intended to recall the bucolic non-aggressive nature of these "Five Civilized Tribes", who simply wished to be let alone and allowed to live in peace on their ancestral hunting grounds. The faster section portrays the strife between the Indians and the encroaching settlers, and builds to the ultimate tragic battle scene of 1838, when the U.S. Army used the cavalry to defeat the Indians. The dramatic last scene depicts the agony of the march itself and includes the recitation of a mournful poem in the Cherokee language by members of the ensemble:
Dedeeshkawnk juniyohoosa, (Let us mourn those who have died)
Dedeeshkawnk ahyoheest, (Let us mourn those who are dying)
Dedeeshkawnk daynahnohtee. (Let us mourn those who must endure)
The work concludes with a final statement of triumph for these Native Americans who survived the Trail of Tears and have managed to live and prosper in spite of all odds, and who today stand with pride and great honor as an important and integral part of our nation and its severely flawed history in the area of Native American affairs.
I wrote this piece because I believe it is imperative that we remain constantly aware that we are just as capable as any other nation of committing crimes against people who are weaker or different from us, regardless of our form of government and no matter what aspirations we might espouse every year on the Fourth of July. One needs only to recall the internment in concentration camps of all Japanese-Americans on the West Coast and Hawaii during those first dark months of World War II to realize that events such as the Trail of Tears are still within the realm of possibility in this "Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave". We must continue to acknowledge these highly distasteful episodes in our history in order to insure that drastic over-reactions such as these do not recur in the future of our nation.
- Program Note from score
Media
(Needed - please join the WRP if you can help.)
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- University of Lynchburg (Va.) Wind Symphony (Oeida M. Hatcher, conductor) - 20 October 2023
- University of Oklahoma (Norman) Sooner Campus Band (Brian Britt, conductor) - 5 March 2023
- Muskingum University (New Concord, Ohio) Wind Ensemble (David Turrill, conductor) - 5 November 2021
- DuPage (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) Community Concert Band (Terry Redford, conductor) - 11 March 2019
- The Ohio State University (Columbus) University Band (Onsby Rose, conductor) – 1 March 2018
- West Virginia University Symphonic Band (Lindsey Williams, conductor) - 30 November 2017
- University of North Carolina, Greensboro, University Band (William L. Lake, conductor) – 1 March 2017
- Appalachian State University (Boone, N.C.) Symphony Band (Kevin Gray Richardson, conductor) – 16 February 2016
- Southern Colorado (Canon City) Community Band (Mike Nolan, conductor) - 29 March 2015
- North Shore Summer Music Experience, Duluth, Minnesota (Mark Whitlock, conductor) - 28 June 2014
Works for Winds by This Composer
Adaptable Music
- Westridge Overture (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Barber) (1983/1991/2021)
- Yorkshire Ballad (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Barber) (1985/2021)
All Wind Works
- All Pleasant Things... (1998)
- Alpine Holiday (2014)
- Alvamar Overture (1981)
- Appalachian Overture (1983)
- Arioso and Presto (2001)
- Autumn Soliloquy (1987)
- Bayerisches Osterfest (2014)
- Beautiful Oregon (2007)
- Breckenridge (1989)
- Brookshire Suite (1980)
- Burnished Brass (2020)
- Caribbean Hideaway (1997)
- Carnaval in São Paulo (2003)
- Centennial Celebration Overture (1986)
- Century Tower (1984)
- Chorale and Jubiloso (1998)
- Chorale Prelude on a German Folk Tune (1986)
- Citadel (2015)
- Concerto for Euphonium (2011)
- Concerto for Tuba (tr. Rogers) (1996)
- Credo (2016)
- Crossgate (1984)
- Dance Variants (2017)
- Danza Sinfonica (2005)
- Desperate Pursuit (2010/2012)
- Dexter Park Celebration (2017)
- Dramatic Overture (2021)
- Dream Journey (1997)
- Eagle Bend (2000)
- Eaglecrest (1984)
- Eighth Symphony (2017)
- Eisenhower Centennial (1992)
- Escenas de los Aztecas (2012)
- Fanfare and Capriccio (2001)
- Fanfare and Processional (2018)
- Fanfares and Alleluias (1996)
- Fantasy Variations (1988)
- Festival Concert March (1982)
- Fifth Symphony (2003)
- First Symphony. See: Symphony
- Fourth Symphony (ed. Rogers) (1999/2001)
- Foxfire (2001)
- Golden Festival Overture (1997)
- Goldene Kameraden (2014)
- Heatherwood Portrait (1983)
- High Plains Overture (1991)
- Hobart Centennial March (2002)
- Home on the Range (as arranger; harm. Ralston) (1873/1992)
- Hope Arises
- Hunter Park (1974)
- Impressions of Japan (1994)
- Inspiration Point (1997)
- Inventions on Marching Songs (1996)
- Invocation and Toccata (1982)
- Jubilation Overture (2005)
- Legend (1992)
- A Leroy Anderson Portrait (as arranger) (1982)
- A Light in the Wilderness (1995)
- The Lightning Brigade (2018)
- Lonely Beach (1993)
- The Long Gray Line (1988)
- Lyric Interlude (1980)
- Majestic (2023)
- Malagueña (as arranger) (1928/2016)
- Maracas from Caracas (2002)
- Meditation (2017)
- My Old Kentucky Home (as arranger) (1853/1997)
- Ninth Symphony (2019)
- Nulli Secundus (1999)
- The Old Guard (1994)
- Pagan Dances (1996)
- The Perishing Rifles (1997)
- Poetic Intermezzo (1985)
- Porgy and Bess (as arranger) (1928/2002)
- Prairie Winds Festival (2016)
- A Prayer for Higashi Nihon (2011)
- Quest (2016)
- Rapscallion (1976)
- Rhapsodic Essay (1999)
- Ritmico (2018)
- Riverfest (1985)
- Romanza (1989)
- Scarlet and Silver Jubilee (2007/2009)
- Second Symphony (2000)
- Seventh Symphony. See: Symphonic Requiem
- The Silver Gazebo (1996)
- Sixth Symphony (2006)
- A Solemn Prelude (2003)
- Sorcery Suite (2002)
- Spitfire Overture (1991)
- Sterling Brass (1981/1998)
- Stone Meadows (1987)
- Sunflower Saga (1994)
- Symphonic Essay (2012)
- Symphonic Overture (1991)
- Symphonic Requiem (2015)
- Symphony (1974-75)
- Symphony No. 1. See: Symphony
- Symphony No. 2. See: Second Symphony
- Symphony No. 3. See: Third Symphony
- Symphony No. 4. See: Fourth Symphony
- Symphony No. 5. See: Fifth Symphony
- Symphony No. 6. See: Sixth Symphony
- Symphony No. 7. See: Symphonic Requiem
- Symphony No. 8. See: Eighth Symphony
- Symphony No. 9. See: Ninth Symphony
- Tchaikovsky Suite (as arranger) (1878/2004)
- The Texans (1986)
- Third Symphony (1997)
- Threnody (2015)
- Three Symphonic Fanfares (1989)
- Toccata Fantastica (2001)
- Torch Dance (1985)
- Trail of Tears (1989)
- Trailridge Saga (1988)
- Tribute (2011)
- Twin Oaks (2000)
- Variants on a Moravian Hymn (1993)
- A Very American Overture (1996)
- Visions Macabres (1978/1984/2006)
- We the People (1990)
- Westport Overture (1988)
- Westridge Overture (1983/1991)
- Westridge Overture (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Barber) (1983/1991/2021)
- The Whistler and His Dog (as arranger) (1905/2005)
- The Wild Blue Yonder (2008)
- Wildwood Overture (2003)
- The Wizard of Oz (as arranger) (1939/1995)
- Yama Midori (2003)
- Yorkshire Ballad (1985)
- Yorkshire Ballad (Flex instrumentation) (arr. Barber) (1985/2021)
Resources
- Barnes, J. (1990). Trail of Tears [A Tone Poem for Symphonic Band]. [score]. Southern Music: San Antonio, Tx.