In my last post, I was able to present the score for one of my three most recent orchestral pieces. Tn this post I can announce that I’ve finished editing the score of the second of these. It can be downloaded (free) HERE.

The audio may be streamed (free) HERE (or use the player below). I strongly recommend listening on headphones or good speakers, not just tiny laptop speakers.

In my last post, I also talked a bit about the orchestra I find myself writing for. Basically, it’s solo woodwinds, solo and ensemble brass, at least 3 percussionists plus timpani, keyboard, and harp, plus–always–a full string section. However, in multi-movement compositions different movements use different subsets of that basic orchestration.

For instance, in The Geography of Dreams, you can compare the instrumentation among the movements from this list.

 
Mov. 1 – Dream of the City by the Sea and the Dark Castle Beyond Its Walls

flute solo
trumpet solo
piano
strings

Mov. 2 – Busts made of cork spinning slowly through the air

oboe solo
harp
strings

Mov. 3 – In the Hills Outside the City, the Old Man Sits by His Fire Conversing with the Forest Animals

picc solo
flute solo
oboe solo
english horn solo
french horn
Perc 1: Marimba
Perc 3: celeste
harp
keyboard (“chiffy” organ sound)
strings

Mov. 4 – Amidst The City’s Desolation The Anima Appears As A Woman Clothed In Radiant White

horn section & solo
trumpet solo
tuba
timpani
Perc 1: tam-tam
Perc 2: grand casa
Perc 3: tubular bells
harp
strings

Mov. 5 – Twilight Peal in the City of Dreams

horns section (unison)
trumpet section (unison)
strings

I’m in the process of editing my three most recent orchestral pieces. I just finished editing the score of the first of these. It can be downloaded (free) HERE. The audio may be streamed (free) HERE (or use the player below). I strongly recommend listening on headphones or good speakers, not just tiny laptop speakers.

In retrospect–I didn’t do this intentionally, things just came out this way–I’ve noticed that the “orchestra,” for which I naturally tend to write, has the following characteristics:

• Normal string section;
• Far fewer woodwinds and brass which are used almost exclusively only in solo/soli writing;
• Expanded percussion/keyboard sections;
• Always harp but also sometimes other plucked instruments;
• Except for string section which seems to always be present in every movement, not all movements have same instrumentation, and some instruments might only be used in one or two movements.

For example, the instrumentation of this orchestral suite is as follows:

Flute
Oboe
English Horn
Horn
C Trumpet
Percussion 1

• Tubular bells
• Sistrum or tambourine (or any metal or bright sounding shaken instrument such as “egg” shaker)
• Claves
• Anvil or brake drum

Percussion 2

• Hand bells
• 6 large drums of varying sizes (in a pinch, roto-toms would do); notes immediately repeated should be of slightly different tonal inflection; the lowest 2 (or 3) drums may be of wood–at any rate, the lowest drums should be significantly lower than the upper 3

Percussion 3

• Orchestra bells
• Dumbek or a similar, single drum that can create a variety of pitches and timbers.

Harp
Violins I
Violins II
Violas
Cellos
Basses

I’ve added a movement to The Golden Thread, Wendeyaho.

Although the arrangement and orchestration is my own, the melodic source for this movement is a traditional Native American tune called “Wendeyaho” that is often described as a “Cherokee Morning Song.” However discussion of it on the Internet indicates that the word, “Wendeyaho,” is not Cherokee. For a full, and fascinating discussion of this, please see Why You Can’t Find “Wendeyaho” in a Cherokee Dictionary
.