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Troublesome Fire
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Subtitle: In Memory of Clear Skies
General Info
Year: 2022
Duration: c. 9:00
Difficulty: V (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: James M. David
Cost: Score and Parts – Available July 2023
Instrumentation
(Needed - please join the WRP if you can help.)
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
During the summer and fall of 2020, Colorado experienced the largest and most destructive wildfires in its entire history. Western U.S. wildfires have become an all too common occurrence as human-caused climate change has continued to affect the environment in dramatic fashion. The Cameron Peak and East Troublesome Fires burned hundreds of thousands of acres in portions of Rocky Mountain National Park and surrounding national forests, only a couple dozen miles from my own home. A gigantic pyrocumulonimbus cloud rose above the mountains and could be seen from hundreds of miles away. Ash fell for weeks and the sun was obscured almost completely during the fire's peak. Were it not for an unexpectedly early and heavy snow, the damage could have been exponentially worse.
My new piece deals with the anger, fear, and frustration I felt during these fires and continue to linger as our fragile and beautiful planet remains in such peril. In a single movement, my composition will depict the progression of these events, from the initial spark (theorized to be caused by stray gunfire), to the incredible destructive climax, and concluding with the anxious calm of a snow-covered field with embers still smoldering beneath. Aleatoric techniques, myriad percussion, and a digital soundscape will enhance the already dramatic palette of the wind ensemble. A major source of inspiration that is referenced throughout is Scriabin's Vers la Flamme ("Towards the Flame") which the pianist Horowitz claimed was a depiction of a cataclysmic heat and fire that would consume the earth.
- Program Note by composer
Media
None discovered thus far.
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- University of South Carolina (Columbia) Wind Ensemble (Cody Ray, conductor) - 16 April 2023
- Central Michigan University (Mount Pleasant) Symphonic Wind Ensemble (Christopher C. Chapman, conductor) - 21 February 2023
- University of Kentucky (Lexington) Wind Symphony (John Cody Birdwell, conductor) - 28 January 2023
Works for Winds by This Composer
Adaptable Music
- Lookfar (Adaptable Band) (2020)
- March Tumbao (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
- Menlo Park, 1879 (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
- Zephyrus (Flex instrumentation) (2019)
All Wind Works
- All Dark Is Now No More (2014)
- Auto '66 (2011)
- Big Four on the River (2014)
- Bright Window (2005)
- Codex Gigas. See: Symphony No. 1
- Dymaxion (2021)
- Flying Jewels (2021)
- From the Shaken Tower: Symphony for Percussion and Winds (2014)
- Ghosts of the Old Year (2016)
- Heartland Verses (2019)
- I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold (2017)
- Lookfar (Adaptable Band) (2020)
- March Tumbao (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
- Menlo Park, 1879 (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
- Message from Arecibo (2023)
- Octarine Spark (2009)
- Pavillons en L'Air (2009)
- Sinfonietta No 1 (2004)
- Sinfonietta No 3: "Strange and Mysterious Waters" (2010)
- Swing Landscape (2018)
- Symphony No. 1 (2020)
- Tesseract (2023)
- Troublesome Fire (2022)
- Two-Lane Blacktop (2013)
- Urban Light (2021)
- With Soul Serene (2019)
- Zephyrus (Flex instrumentation) (2019)
Resources
- James M. David website Accessed 28 January 2023