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Waking Angels
General Info
Year: 1996
Duration: c. 11:00
Difficulty: VI (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: C. Alan Publications
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $150.00 | Score Only (print) - $50.00
Instrumentation
Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute
Oboe
Bassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet
Bass Clarinet
B-flat Trumpet I-II
Horn in F I-II
Trombone
Tuba
Piano
Harp
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III-IV-V, including:
- Bass Drum (4)
- Bells
- Brake Drum (4)
- Chimes
- Crash Cymbals
- Crotales
- Marimba
- Metal Hanging Plates (5)
- Police Whistle
- Snare Drum
- Suspended Cymbal
- Tam-Tam
- Vibraphone
- Xylophone
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
Waking Angels was inspired by the poem Mercy by Olga Broumas which is among a collection of poems on the subject of AIDS by various poets called Poems of Life. Broumas's poem makes reference to the "sea-smoke" rising from the ocean and how it is often referred to as the "breath of souls." The last stanza of the poem alludes to these lost souls that Broumas has been grieving for:
they leave, like waking angels rising
on a hint of wind, visible or unseen, a print,
a wrinkle of the water.
Whether we choose to acknowledge it or not, AIDS has profoundly affected the world in which we live. Countless numbers of people have lost their lives to this merciless disease, and a cure is not yet within reach. Through the imagery of the music, Waking Angels emanates the mysteriousness, the pain and the ruthlessness of the disease. But it also provides us with the warmth and comfort of hope and the peace of eternity. One may recognize fragments of the old hymn, Softly and Tenderly, Jesus Is Calling, by Will Thompson which serves to unify the work. This, to me, is nostalgic, having grown up among the ambience of the old gospel hymns.
I have found the melody and text comforting over the years. The hymn motive goes through a degenerative process in the work paralleling the nature of the disease. My purpose in using the hymn tune is not necessarily religious. It simply provides a source of reflection -- to personally draw the listener into the music and toward a closer understanding of the pain and suffering of mankind.
- Program Note by composer
Media
- Audio: Reference recording. Ensemble and conductor unknown
- Audio CD: Drake University Wind Symphony (Robert Meunier, conductor) - 2001
State Ratings
- Louisiana: V
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- University of Illinois (Champaign) Wind Orchestra (Barry L. Houser, conductor) - 1 March 2023
- Central Michigan University (Mt. Pleasant) Symphonic Wind Ensemble (James Batcheller, conductor) – 7 April 2022 (CBDNA 2022 North Central Conference, Madison, Wisc.)
- University of Toronto (Ont., Can.) Wind Ensemble (Gillian MacKay, conductor) - 2 December 2021
- Eastman School of Music (Rochester, N.Y.) Wind Ensemble (Mark Davis Scatterday, conductor) - 20 November 2020
- University of Toronto (Ont., Can.) Wind Ensemble (Gillian MacKay, conductor) - 2 December 2017
- University of Oklahoma (Norman) Symphony Band (Michael Hancock, conductor) – 23 November 2015
- University of North Dakota Faculty Chamber Ensemble – 3 November 2011
Works for Winds by This Composer
Adaptable Music
- Appalachian Counterpoint (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
- At Morning's First Light (Flex instrumentation) (2004/2020)
- Scherzo d'Espoir (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
- Three Ships (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
All Wind Works
- Abiquiu (2010)
- Aerodynamics (2003)
- America the Beautiful (as arranger) (1882/2018)
- And Can It Be? (2000)
- Angels of the Apocalypse (2013)
- Apocalyptic Dreams (1995)
- Appalachian Counterpoint (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
- Assurance
- At Evening's First Star (2019)
- At Morning's First Light (2004)
- At Morning's First Light (Flex instrumentation) (2004/2020)
- Au Sable River Festival (2002)
- Be Thou My Vision (1999)
- Bells of Freedom (2002)
- Beneath the Sacred Light (2015)
- Bright Gleams a Beacon (2012)
- Cantus Laetus (2001)
- Century Variants (2009)
- Concertino for Four Percussion and Wind Ensemble (1997)
- Concerto for Euphonium, Winds and Percussion (2009)
- Concerto for Horn and Symphonic Band (2008)
- Concerto for Woodwind Quintet and Wind Ensemble (1984/2006)
- Concerto No. 2 for Marimba and Wind Ensemble (2008)
- Concerto for Piano, Percussion and Wind Orchestra (arr. Fisher) (2005)
- Council Oak (2002)
- A Crescent Still Abides (1998)
- Crest of Honor (2005)
- Double F Fanfare (2008)
- Drums of Rwanda (2014)
- The Echo Never Fades (2004)
- Finale, from All Hail the Power
- Fire Up
- Foster's America (2003)
- Foundations (2017)
- Galactic Empires (1998)
- Glorified (2010)
- Heroes, Lost and Fallen (1990)
- Homage (2012)
- Home Again (2016)
- Internal Combustion (1999)
- Intrada Jubilante (1979/1999)
- Jeju Memoir (2019)
- Joyau (2019)
- Keep Silence (2004)
- Kentucky Home (2012)
- A Light Unto the Darkness (1997/1998)
- Mansions of Glory (2007)
- New Century Dawn (1999)
- No Shadow of Turning (2005)
- Point of Reckoning (arr. Daughtrey) (2015)
- Providence (2003)
- Quintessence I (1997)
- Quintessence II (2006)
- Radiant Moonbeams (2007)
- Rising Star
- Sails of Time (2006)
- Scherzo d'Espoir (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
- Serenade for Winds and Percussion (2000)
- Seven Bagatelles (2014)
- Song Shall Never End, The (2014)
- Sub-Saharan Rhythm (1998)
- Symphony No. 2 (2007)
- Three Ships (Flex instrumentation) (2020)
- Vintage (1990)
- Vital Signs of Planet Earth (2015)
- Waking Angels (1997)
- When Speaks the Signal Trumpet Tone (1999)
- While the Dew Is Still on the Roses (2013)
- With Heart and Voice (2000)
Resources
- David Gillingham website
- Gillingham, D.; Broumas, O. (1997). Waking Angels [score]. C. Alan Publications: Greensboro, N.C.