For This Brave New Day (Wind Band)
For This Brave New Day (Wind Band)
Grade 4
For This Brave New Day depicts a sunrise and the progression from quiet morning to a day alive with music.
Pricing
Printed Score Only: $40
Printed Score + Printed Parts: $169.99
Printed Score + Digital PDF Parts: $169.99
Details
Grade 4 – Wind Band
Year of Composition: 2020
Length: 6:30
Here is a series of videos I recorded about the composition process for this piece:
Program Note
“For This Brave New Day” was commissioned in 2020 in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the South Shore Conservatory Summer Music Festival. Eric Laprade, director of the Summer Music Festival Wind Ensemble led a consortium made up of ensembles and schools throughout the Boston area and the northeast. As Eric and I discussed possible ideas for the piece, he described a typical day at the summer music festival: early in the morning the grounds are quiet. The sun is still rising, dew is glistening on the grass, and peaceful sounds of nature emerge. Students begin to arrive on campus, and soon music begins to fill the air. By the middle of the day, the festival grounds are alive with music as the day reaches a triumphant arrival.
I was drawn to this concept and thought it would be fun to try to paint this scene through music. Naturally, the music starts very quietly and generally grows louder and more triumphant as the piece goes on.
Grade 4
This work, scored for wind band and narrator, reflects on the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy. The piece blends elements of a funeral march and a lament, and near the end of the piece a moving poem is read over the music by a narrator. (This work is also available for orchestra here)