REALIZATION - Score Only Concert Band - Digital Sheet Music

SKU: A0.1569163

Realization is a piece that explores a variety of textures and colors that can be achieved by the wind band. It opens with an agitato woodwind gesture that is driven by the prominence of the interval of the major seventh, never being allowed to fully resolve. A lyrical melody in the French horns echoes motifs established in the upper woodwinds as a way to “cope” with the instability established in the piece. It then moves on to deconstruct itself, and from this deconstruction arises a forlorn melody that is punctuated by, yet again, the major seventh. In the utilization of this interval in such a context, one gets the sense that this inherently unstable jump is not simply a means to an end – awaiting some resolution – but something which upholds the integrity of the piece as a whole. This understanding is remembered by the music, as the piece continues onward to an “A-prime” section, recapitulating (now in a new key) the agitato woodwind gesture established at the opening. However, the previous “issue” of the major seventh is now overcome by its use as a crucial gesture in driving the piece to its brillante conclusion.

Realization is so named for a variety of reasons. This piece is highly personal to me, as it is the first large-scale composition of my own that will be “realized” by an ensemble equipped to perform it. The composition also seeks to “realize” something about itself – that the idiosyncrasies which make it “imperfect” in the beginning are those which in fact provide the most strength and uniqueness to the piece as a whole. It is a work of self-acceptance, in many respects, as the music itself must come to terms with its own quirks. In this way, it urges the performers and listeners to accept those things about themselves which may seem peculiar, but which may in fact be their points of greatest strength and beauty. It is a realization of honesty with oneself, which is often times the hardest realization to make of all.