Orchestra Concert Band
SKU: PR.416414460
For Orchestra.
Composed by Roger Zare.
Sws. Contemporary. Full
score. With Standard
notation. Composed 2006.
36 pages. Duration 9:30.
Theodore Presser Company
#416-41446. Published by
Theodore Presser Company
(PR.416414460).
ISBN
9781598064766. UPC:
680160610631. 9x12
inches.
Roger Zare
is living every young
composer's dream. At a
tender age, he has
already been lauded by
the best, and his
compositions continue to
earn awards. Green Flash,
his first publication
with Theodore Presser
Company, was written in
2007 for the USC Thornton
Symphony, received a BMI
Student Composer award in
2007, was chosen to be
read at the 2008 American
Composers Orchestra
Underwood New Music
Readings, won the ASCAP
Rudolf Nissim Prize in
2009, and has now won the
2012 Symphony in C Young
Composers' Competition.
For more about Green
Flash and a YouTube video
of the premiere
performance, see the
composer's website
(www.rogerzare.com/greenf
lash.htm).
A
“green flashâ€
is a rare atmospheric
phenomenon that occurs as
a sunset reaches its end.
If conditions are just
right, then a spark of
green will hover on the
horizon for a fleeting
moment as the sun
disappears. I first
witnessed this subtle
effect in Florida in
2005. Seeing the mythical
event for the first time
inspiredthis composition.
Green Flash is a musical
journey from daybreak to
sunset. It focuses on the
manipulation of colors
and textures throughout
its five sections. The
musical events are
designed to paint a
picture of various scenes
during the day. The piece
begins with the heartbeat
of the world emerging
from the silentdarkness
of the night. As night
transitions to dawn,
waves of color propagate
from the repeating low C,
building up through the
harmonic series to become
the vibrant colors of
sunrise. Eventually all
twelve notes of the
chromatic scale are
sounding together.
Abruptly, a morning fog
engulfs the scene. Out of
the mist rises the only
melodic theme in the
work, played by a solo
English horn, and later
taken up by other solo
winds. Once the fog
dissipates, the sky fills
with the playful dance of
wispy cirrus clouds. A
rainbow-like halo
surrounds the sun, adding
a burst of color to the
scene. This carefree,
optimistic cloud dance is
invaded by a menacing
front of cumulonimbus
clouds. A storm rages at
a frantic pace, but in
its dying breath yields
the most glorious of
sunsets. Only as the last
glint of sunlight
disappears below the
horizon, a faint sparkle
of green lingers in the
atmosphere.
