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Walden
Contents
General Info
Year: 2011
Duration: c. 4:10
Difficulty: III (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Orchestra
Publisher: Markowski Creative
Cost: Score and Parts (print) - $120.00 | Score Only (print) - $25.00
Instrumentation
Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe
Bassoon
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III-IV
B-flat Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Saxophone
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III
Horn in F I-II
Trombone I-II-III
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Piano
Timpani
Percussion I-II-III, including:
- Bass Drum
- Chimes
- Crash Cymbals
- Snare Drum
- Suspended Cymbal
- Vibraphone
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
Much of the music I have written over the last several years has been a fast, frenetic dreamcatcher of rhythm and texture. While I love this fast-paced electrifying style, it was my friend, Robert Stumpf, who first preached simplicity and, over the years, has continued to urge me to write more lyrically. With Robert’s words still echoing in the back of my head, the idea only recently seemed exciting to explore. I suddenly had the urge to chill out and write something more pastoral — something “simple.”
In an effort to uphold this simplicity, I eventually found myself thinking of Henry David Thoreau’s writings. I even found myself wandering to a neighborhood pond in the late night/ early mornings, before sunrise, perhaps in a feeble attempt to relate, even if for a moment, to the life Thoreau wrote so poetically about over 150 years ago. It seemed only appropriate, therefore, to name this piece after Thoreau’s own liquid sanctuary, Walden. My ideal of Walden, however, isn’t necessarily only calm and tranquil, but is one that is full of life — one that moves with great harmonic and rhythmic motion. There have been other musical arrangements of the same name that are all very transparent and lightly orchestrated that perhaps romanticize the lake’s magical stillness. I hope my interpretation captures a contrasting lushness, vibrance, and animation, complex in the details, but not without a few nods to tranquility. This is how I picture my own Walden to be.
- Program Note by composer
Commercial Discography
None discovered thus far.
Media
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Kennesaw (Ga.) State University Wind Symphony (Debra Traficante, conductor) – 16 October 2019
- Plymouth (N.H.) State University Symphonic Band (Emily Lombardo, conductor) - 2018
- California State University, Northridge Wind Ensemble (Lawrence Stoffel, conductor) - 13 October 2011 *Premiere Performance*
Works for Winds by this Composer
Adaptable Music
- Finding the Words: ii. Undefined (Flex instrumentation) (2019/2020)
All Wind Works
- As Midnight on a Moonless Night (2011)
- Blue Ambience (2003)
- Brooklyn Air (2016)
- Camerado (2013)
- The Cave You Fear (2014)
- City Trees (2012)
- Drawing Mars (2019)
- Dreamland (2011)
- Elixir (2012)
- Embers (2015)
- Famishius Fantasticus (2012)
- Finding the Words
- Finding the Words: ii. Undefined (Flex instrumentation) (2019/2020)
- Forever Summer (2016)
- Instinctive Travels (2009)
- JoyRiDE (2005/2014)
- Machiavelli's Conscience (2017)
- Monk by the Sea (2015)
- Reckoning (2017)
- Remember the Molecules (2013)
- Saturn Returns (2014)
- Shadow Rituals (2006)
- Shine (Markowski) (2010)
- Summoning Graces (2019)
- Sunny-Side Up (2018)
- Tidal Forces (2010)
- The Tonic of Wildness (2017)
- Turkey in the Straw (2008)
- Unfamiliar Territory (2013)
- Walden (2011)
- You Are Cordially Invited (2016)
Resources
- Markowski, M. (2011). Walden for Concert Band [score]. Michael Markowski: [United States].
- Michael Markowski website Accessed 17 October 2019
- Perusal score
