Concert band - Grade 4
SKU:
MH.1-59913-072-6
Composed by Timothy
Broege. Suitable for high
school, community, and
college bands. Conductor
score and set of parts.
Duration 7:00. Published
by Manhattan Beach Music
(MH.1-59913-072-6).
ISBN
9781599130729.
Prog
ram Notes: It was a happy
coincidence that the
commission for SINFONIA
XVI: TRANSCENDENTAL
VIENNA came from the
Henry David Thoreau
School located in Vienna,
Virginia. Thoreau is one
of the magic names in
American culture: Henry
David Thoreau, one of the
leading figures of the
Transcendentalist
movement, centered in
19th-century New England,
left us a body of unique
philosophical and
poetical writings. To
utter the words, Walden
Pond, is to invoke an
America long past in
physical actuality, but
still present in the
minds and hearts of many
American citizens. The
name, Vienna, of course,
summons thoughts of the
Old World: culture, fine
food, wine, civilized
cities. While
contemplating the form
that SINFONIA XVI should
take, I found myself
thinking of two pillars
of Viennese culture:
expressionism and the
waltz. Musically
speaking, expressionism
reached a zenith in the
works of Arnold
Schoenberg and Alban
Berg. It was Berg, in
particular, that I wanted
to invoke in the outer
movements of my
composition. I knew I
would also have to
include a waltz, and an
invocation of the
mysterious forces that
are contained in both
expressionism and
transcendentalism. Thus
was the structure of the
work generated. The outer
movements with their
vision of the night sky
and the stars, Aldebaran
and Sirius, frame the
central movements, which
are essentially two
versions of the same
material, and are quieter
and less dramatic. The
outer movements are
symmetrical, and share
both pitch and rhythmic
materials. Accordingly, I
see the work as a ternary
form, with the central
movements forming a unit
within the outer frame: A
(Movement 1) B (Movements
2 & 3) A' (Movement 4).
Harmonically, the work
can be summarized by the
two pitch-series which
occur in the opening bars
of Movement 1: the
initial 12-note row, with
a tonal center on F-sharp
(measures 1-6), and the
subsequent D-minor Dorian
7-note row (beginning in
measure 14). Aspects of
these materials occur in
all four movements, but
they are most strongly
present in Movements 1
and 4. Note that the
12-note row is not
subjected to the usual
serial procedures, but
instead is treated as a
signifier and is left
unchanged. Since the
fourth movement takes up
where the first movement
leaves off, I can
conceive of one
interpretation of
SINFONIA XVI as an
evocation of Thoreau
himself contemplating two
of the brightest stars on
a clear, cold night.
Aldebaran is an orange,
first-magnitude star,
located in the
constellation Taurus;
Sirius, the Dog Star, is
the brightest star in the
sky, and is located in
the constellation Canis
Major. Thoreau interrupts
his star-gazing to
entertain some inward
thoughts, waking dreams,
as it were, then returns
his gaze to the splendid
night sky and all its
treasures. Although many
other interpretations of
the material are
possible, it is important
to remember that the
abstract materials of the
piece -- pitch, rhythm,
structure -- are what
count the most. Ensemble
instrumentation: 1
Piccolo, 4 Flute 1, 4
Flute 2, 3 Oboe, 1 Eb
Clarinet (opt.), 4 Bb
Clarinet 1, 4 Bb Clarinet
2, 4 Bb Clarinet 3, 3
Bass Clarinet, 3 Bassoon,
3 Eb Alto Saxophone 1, 3
Eb Alto Saxophone 2, 2 Bb
Tenor Saxophone, 2 Eb
Baritone Saxophone, 3 Bb
Trumpet 1, 3 Bb Trumpet
2, 3 Bb Trumpet 3, 2 Horn
1, 2 Horn 2, 3 Trombone
1, 3 Trombone 2, 3
Euphonium B.C., 2
Euphonium T.C., 5 Tuba, 2
Timpani, 3 Percussion 1,
3 Percussion 2, 3
Percussion 3, 3
Percussion 4.
