Sleeper: Sapphire Overture
Expected to ship in 2-3 weeks.
Shipping Policy- Composer: Thomas Sleeper (1956-)
- Editor: Andreas Pernpeintner (1982-)
- Fingering: Henning Kraggerud (1973-)
- Instrumentation: Concert Band
- Work: Sapphire Overture (2003)
Description
Sapphire Overture, scored for concert band, is a nine-minute frolic into the worlds of the Lydian mode and related environs. The work is in three parts: fast-slow-fast with the central section a bittersweet lullaby featuring solo horn, flute and oboe in a chamber-like setting. Modalities are explored and relationships examined as if they were characters in an opera – each taking on a different persona.
The first section, marked Allegro con fuoco has special significance for me - "con fuoco", (with fire), was one of the first Italian terms I learned as a child from my teacher and mentor, Daral F. Rauscher. I did not just learn the term - Daral taught the expressive implications and its potential through his own playing. He demonstrated an incisive and insistent precision, always in time, while feeling on the edge, as the music surged forward… like a flame racing along a line of petrol. Powerful …unstoppable. This is the mood and emotional content of the first and last sections.
The center of the work is a tripartite lullaby, simply stated and varied. As this piece was being written, I was expecting my third child, Hana. This section is directly related to that event.
The second and final parts of this lullaby are separated by a brief interlude (brass and timpani) which reappears and slowly develops two simple melodic fragments from the first section only to be interrupted by the primitive dance music which originally concluded the first section. The final section begins at this point and the primitive dance turns out to be a transition itself to the opening theme of the overture. All of the original material returns and works through a final development of the "soaring" theme to in F Major for a grand conclusion – the brass intoning reminders of the darker modalities.
I wish to express my deepest appreciation to my friend and colleague Gary Green for his encouragement and faith in my music and for the deep passion and rich musical palate he brings to his performances. I also thank Dan Belongia for his thorough preparation and sensitive conducting of the initial readings of Sapphire Overture.
-Thomas Sleeper October 10, 2003
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Solo Part with Piano Reduction
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A small (think choral size) copy of the complete score meant for studying, and not playing. They make great add-ons when learning concertos and small chamber works.
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Sleeper: Sapphire Overture
