A Rose Blooms Forth (Band Gr. 4.5)

Celebrating the retirement of a Florida band director, A Rose Blooms Forth is a dramatic work for wind band that combines fragments from Florida State University’s alma mater, Hymn to the Garnet & Gold, and original themes and treatments from Gillingham. What results is a piece that is equal parts reverent and celebratory.

Genre: Band | # of Players: Standard
Series: Ruby Band Series
Level: 4.5 | Duration: 7:05

Instrumentation
Conductor's Score (11x17)

Piccolo
Flute 1
Flute 2
Oboe
Bassoon
B-flat Clarinet 1
B-flat Clarinet 2
B-flat Clarinet 3
Bass Clarinet
Alto Saxophone 1
Alto Saxophone 2
Tenor Saxophone
Baritone Saxophone

B-flat Trumpet 1
B-flat Trumpet 2
B-flat Trumpet 3
F Horn 1
F Horn 2
F Horn 3
F Horn 4
Trombone 1
Trombone 2
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
B-flat Baritone T.C.
Tuba

Timpani (4 drums)
Percussion 1: Bells [shared], Crotales
Percussion 2: Vibraphone [shared], Xylophone, Bells [shared]
Percussion 3: Marimba, Vibraphone [shared]
Percussion 4: Suspended Cymbal, Brake Drum, Tam-Tam, Tambourine
Percussion 5: Crash Cymbals, Chimes, 4 Concert Toms
Percussion 6: Snare Drum, Concert Bass Drum

Program Notes
A Rose Blooms Forth was commissioned by and dedicated to Mara Rose, Alex Buck, and the Fleming Island High School Wind Ensemble, Fleming Island, Florida. Specifically, the work is in honor or Mara Rose who will be retiring in 2024. Mara Rose has dedicated many years to music education and her work as conductor of the Fleming Island Wind Ensemble has been exemplary. She has persevered through many years of trials and tribulations and has been able to "bloom forth". The title of the work includes her last name, "Rose" and the music expresses Mara's roots and her perseverance throughout her career, similar to the flower. The rose is a surprisingly hardy plant with deep roots and can withstand predators, weather, and weeds—not to mention its thorns for protection! It is able to prevail and it "blooms" once a year. Mara Rose has much in common with the rose. She has deep roots embedded in her university education at Florida State University. Fragments and phrases of the Florida State University Alma Mater, "Hymn to the Garnet and Gold," are quoted throughout the work.

Mara's deep roots at FSU have helped her mold her career and develop her philosophy of music education. As a person she is one of the most kind and caring human beings on the planet with credit to her mentors, teachers, family and friends. Hence, the "Rose" theme.

The work is divided into five parts:

I. Introduction (1-20)
Remembrance of "roots." Florida State University Alma Mater is fragmented and at one point, the first phrase is played by bells, vibraphone, and marimba. The introduction becomes more solemn toward the end alluding to the mystery of entering the real world.

II. Rose theme
Horns play the "Rose" theme in C major. The theme modulates to B-flat major and is then played more exuberantly alluding to a prevailing sense of confidence.

III. Uncertainty (45-105)
Uncertainty sets in where challenges seem to overwhelm. Fragments of both themes can be heard within a dark mood with some being contorted almost beyond recognition. At one point the first phrase of the Alma Mater is heard—in a different key! When the music becomes the most dissonant and unbearable, perseverance leads back to the "roots" and the third phrase of the Alma Mater is stated, "tour de force", by the entire ensemble followed by a euphonium solo playing the last phrase, as well as some of the Alma Mater.

IV. A Rose Blooms Forth (106-144)
Mara Rose blooms forth and becomes "all that she can be" indicative of her deep roots and perseverance. Ascending wind and percussion lines rise to a "blooming" B-flat Major chord and the first four notes of the Rose theme are repeated in fanfare-like fashion, modulating to C major. Woodwinds and keyboard percussion play sparkling fragments of the Rose theme accompanying the brass playing the entire theme. Two fanfares follow, one in D-flat Major on motives of the Rose theme, and one in F major using both themes (Alma Mater in the brass, and Rose theme in the woodwinds). This transitions to the Coda in B-flat major.

V. Coda (145-end)
It's a celebration, starting with a 6/8 march on the Rose theme, followed by a fanfare and transition to D major and leading back to B-flat Major with joyful fragments of both themes bringing the work to a close.