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Triple Goddess, The
General Info
Year: 1988
Duration: c. 8:30
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Manuscript
Cost: Score and Parts - Unknown
Instrumentation
Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II-III-IV
Oboe
Bassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-XII
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-VI
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion I, including:
- Anvil
- Bass Drum
- Chimes
- Crash Cymbals
- Suspended Cymbal
- Tam-tam
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
The Triple Goddess was the first time Fine had written for band, and she used the full resources of the ensemble to compose a mythic tone poem. Feminine imagery prevails. The Triple-Goddess displays herself as Night, Order, and Justice. She lives in a cave with Eros, her son, whom she conceived when the Wind laid a silver egg in her womb. Rhea, her mother, attends her.
Fine includes headings in the score indicating the action being portrayed. The closing measures are labeled with the following: “Eros created earth, sky, sun, and moon, but the triple-goddess rules the universe.” Fine appears to have enjoyed composing this piece and allowed her sense of humor full range. She chose slowly moving passacaglia for the first section, using the low brass theme to portray Night. Each time the theme repeats, it is announced by the percussion: timpani, then chimes, cymbal, and so on. As the section progresses, the Wind is heard, then Eros is hatched from an egg and sets the universe in motion. This birth and creation take three attempts, and Fine repeats the same music but with different tempi: first an andante, then slower, and then twice the speed. Eros, who “was double-sexed and having four heads, sometimes roared like a lion or a bull, sometimes hissed like a serpent or bleated like a ram,” is portrayed in a cadenza of sonic effects such as glissandi trombones and bleating woodwinds. In contrast to the comic Eros, Night ends with a tonal chorale representing [the Goddess’s] triadic nature, and Rhea is portrayed by the anvil that marks the chorale’s downbeats.
- Heidi Von Gunden, The Music of Vivian Fine
Media
None discovered thus far.
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.) Band (Thomas Everett, conductor) – 22 April 1989 *Premiere Performance*
Works for Winds by This Composer
- The Triple Goddess (1988)
Resources
- Perusal score
- Von Gunden, Helen. The Music of Vivian Fine. Scarecrow Press, 1999.