for Large Wind Ensemble
Instrumentation:
- Piccolo
- Flute 1
- Flute 2 (dbl. Alto Flute)
- Oboe 1
- Oboe 2 (dbl. English Horn)
- Clarinet in Eb
- Clarinet in Bb 1
- Clarinet in Bb 2
- Clarinet in Bb 3
- Bass Clarinet 1 & 2
- BBb Contrabass Clarinet
- Bassoon 1
- Bassoon 2 (dbl. Contrabassoon)
- Alto Sax 1
- Alto Sax 2
- Tenor Sax
- Baritone Sax
- Trumpet in Bb 1 (mutes needed: harmon mute)
- Trumpet in Bb 2 (mutes needed: cup mute)
- Trumpet in Bb 3 (mutes needed: st. mute, harmon mute)
- Horn in F 1 (two players ideal)
- Horn in F 2 (two players ideal)
- Trombone 1 (mutes needed: st. mute)
- Trombone 2 (mutes needed: st. mute)
- Trombone 3 (Bass) (mutes needed: cup mute)
- Euphonium (two players ideal)
- Tuba (two players ideal)
- Double Bass (two players ideal and maximum)
- Timpani (four drums ideal, but doable with three) (also plays small brass bell, suspended ride cymbal, and suspended cymbal)
- Crotales, Tam Tam, Bass Drum, Crash Cymbals, Tambourine
- Vibraphone, Glockenspiel, Xylophone, Snare Drum, Crash Cymbals, Large Triangle, Bass Drum, Concert Toms (four drums), Chimes
- Suspended Cymbal, Crash Cymbals, Gong, Marimba, Vibraphone, Celesta, Suspended Low ‘B’ Crotale (opt.), Chimes
Program Notes:
In my initial thinking about this piece, I wanted to simply write a somewhat short, but almost abstract slow work for winds to depict a sort of ascent to a paradise of sorts. I set out to do such a thing and the piece quickly turned to something larger. Suddenly my thoughts and meditations on the piece turned to imagery of large clouds, and the common depiction of the (usually associated with Christianity) ‘Heaven’. I am not a religious person by any means, but do consider myself spiritual, so when these images were conjured up, I started to think of the shared ideas of a ‘paradise’ or more directly, a ‘heaven’ and then, the idea for the piece really hit me. Of A Distant Heaven is a depiction of the personal heaven that we all have in our own conscious. Instead of going for a sort of strict narrative, I merely wanted to the music to be all encompassing and move to different sections that are somewhat evocative of happiness or more broadly, peace. It is here that there are four major ‘parts’ of the work that I will outline here, they are further explained on the page following page –
~ Prologue
~ Soaring
~ Hymn
~ Groove/Finale
For the most part, light-hearted sections are balanced out with more emotional, or more broadly put, ‘heavier’ sections and the content is never overly complex, both musically and emotionally. The work was incredibly fulfilling to write, and I believe accomplished its goal in terms of its original intent and subject matter, and it is my hope that it is not only a joy to listen to, but is also personally evocative for the listener, musicians, and conductor.
Score Video/Audio:
Full Set of Score and Parts Available Directly from the Composer.