Limitless (Band Gr. 5)

Written to celebrate a group of extraordinary high school seniors who had studied continuously with the same band director from sixth through twelfth grade. Like so many pieces of art, this piece was meant to receive its world premiere in the spring of 2020, but the global pandemic had other plans. It is titled Limitless to showcase that even though the pandemic had kept all of us home and away from each other physically, it would never keep us from continuing to make music.

Genre: Band | # of Players: Standard
Series: Diamond Band Series
Level: 5 | Duration: 9:00

Instrumentation
Piccolo
Flute 1
Flute 2
Oboe 1
Oboe 2
Bassoon 1
Bassoon 2
B-flat Clarinet 1
B-flat Clarinet 2
B-flat Clarinet 3
Bass Clarinet
B-flat Contrabass 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
Trombone 3
Euphonium
Baritone T.C.
Tuba
String Bass

Timpani [4 drums]
Keyboard Percussion 1: Bells, Crotales [2 octaves]
Keyboard Percussion 2: 4-octave Marimba, Xylophone
Percussion 1 [2 players]: Snare Drum, Bass Drum
Percussion 2 [2 players]: Suspended Cymbal, Mark Tree, Crash Cymbals
Percussion 3: Tambourine, Tam-Tam, 4 Concert Toms

Program Notes
Back in 2019, my good friend Mike Howell asked me to write a piece for his high school band. This piece was supposed to mark a momentous occasion: the first senior class of Oak Grove High School in Davidson County, North Carolina. To make things even more special, these senior band members had been with Mike since they began band in sixth grade, as Mike was still teaching at the feeder middle school across the street. These students would be celebrating 7 years of study with one band director, and they deserved something special! I was completely honored to be asked to do this for Mike. He wanted something that would showcase all of his players and the hard work he had put into his program, building it from the ground up, as both of these schools were still in their infancy.

The premiere was supposed to be in the Spring of 2020. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic kept the piece from premiering the way it was originally intended. When I first sent the completed product to Mike, I hadn’t titled the piece, because I wasn’t sure what to call it. However, after the circumstances surrounding the piece, I decided to call it Limitless to showcase that even though the pandemic had kept all of us home and away from each other physically, it would never keep us from continuing to make music. I hope you enjoy performing and rehearsing Limitless and am honored you chose it for your ensemble.

– B.W.T.