Blessing of Light, The (Fanfare edition of Mvt. I, Sym. 1)

The Blessing of Light (Summer) is the first movement from Symphony No. 1. In this "fanfare" edition, the burn of Summer is depicted in an energetic opening that is also inspired by the birth of the Sun. The material commences in gritty, tight harmonic clusters book-ended by octave passages, guiding an energetic set of boldly intensifying statements through each of these refracted “light” scales. These harmonic clusters gradually dissipate until the audience is finally released of the tension at measure 95 with a C major chord. Measure 102-end depicts Michael’s Leunig’s “glorious” light and its ability to consume the darkness that lies within.

Genre: Band | # of Players: Standard
Series: Graduate
Level: 6 | Duration: 5:15

Instrumentation
Conductor's Score (A3 spiral bound)

Piccolo
Flute 1
Flute 2
Oboe 1
Oboe 2
E-flat Clarinet
B-flat Clarinet 1
B-flat Clarinet 2
B-flat Clarinet 3
B-flat Clarinet 4
Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass Clarinet
Bassoon 1
Bassoon 2
Contrabassoon
Soprano Saxophone
Alto Saxophone
Tenor Saxophone
Baritone Saxophone

B-flat Trumpet 1
B-flat Trumpet 2
B-flat Trumpet 3
F Horn 1 & 2
F Horn 3 & 4
Trombone 1
Trombone 2
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
Double Bass

Percussion 1: Xylophone, Vibraphone, 2 Congas
Percussion 2: Glockenspiel, Bongo, Large Conga, Small & Medium Toms, Crash Cymbals
Percussion 3: Suspended Cymbal, Medium & Low Toms, Tambourine
Percussion 4: Tam-Tam, Concert Bass Drum, Suspended Cymbal
Timpani

Program Notes
The Blessing of Light (Summer) is the first movement from Symphony No. 1. In this "fanfare" edition, the burn of Summer is depicted in an energetic opening that is also inspired by the birth of the Sun. The pitch material utilised in the first 102 measures is based on a scale created from the speed of light: 186 282 miles per second. Commencing on G (my personal resonating pitch with the Earth) I built the scale in semitones in an ascending order: The result is a 5-pitch scale (when considering the repeated tones of Ab and Bb). To emulate light refraction one-two notes in the original scale were altered by a semitone to create four new scales with a different tonal centre. The material commences in gritty, tight harmonic clusters book-ended by octave passages, guiding an energetic set of boldly intensifying statements through each of these refracted “light” scales. These harmonic clusters gradually dissipate until the audience is finally released of the tension at measure 95 with a C major chord. Measure 102-end depicts Michael’s Leunig’s “glorious” light and its ability to consume the darkness that lies within. Commissioned by the Australian Wind Band Commissioning Consortium.