Oredock Legends, The

With its haunting melodies and rhythmic drive, The Oredock Legends is an exciting work capturing past spirit of the iron industry of Wisconsin. Commissioned by young musicians, for young musicians, this work is educational, but filled with musicality and dramatic flair.

Genre: Band | # of Players: Standard
Level: 3 | Duration: 5:00

Instrumentation
Piccolo
Flute 1
Flute 2
Oboe
Bassoon
Clarinet 1
Clarinet 2
Clarinet 3
Bass Clarinet
Alto Saxophone 1
Alto Saxophone 2
Tenor Saxophone
Baritone Saxophone

Trumpet 1
Trumpet 2
Trumpet 3
F Horn 1
F Horn 2
Trombone 1
Trombone 2
Euphonium
(TC Baritone)
Tuba
Double Bass

Timpani (4)
Percussion 1 [2 Players] (Snare Drum, 2 Congas, Bass Drum)
Percussion 2 (Suspended Cymbal, Triangle)
Percussion 3 (Crash Cymbals, Triangle)
Percussion 4 (Bells, Chimes)
Percussion 5 (Xylophone)

Program Notes

The Oredock Legends was commissioned and premiered by the Ashland High School Symphonic Band; Christine Hulmer, Director. The students of the symphonic band had been learning about composing music and had written works of their own. Their teacher thought it would be exciting if I used some of the themes from their projects in my composition. The major melodic lines from The Oredock Legends are derived from the students' work. This collaboration helped to enhance their music education and led me to writing this exciting work.

The title comes from a time when Ashland, Wisconsin was dominated by railway and many ore docks were built to move iron ore mined in the area into freighters bound for ports in the Rust Belt. The last of the docks was a concrete structure originally 80 feet high and 75 feet wide and in 1925 the dock was extended to 1,800 feet. Last used in 1965, this great structure has slowly deteriorated over time. The Oredock Legends is meant to capture the power of industry and construction that are at the nature of the Ashland ore docks.