Sinfonietta (TradeWinds)

Sinfonietta is a challenging, extended work for symphonic wind band. It is in three movements: Dance with the Devil, A Glimpse of Paradise and Reyes Magos. Sinfonietta is technically and expressively demanding but is written within the realms of tonal language.

Genre: Band | # of Players: Standard
Level: 5 | Duration: 13:05

Instrumentation
Piccolo
Flute 1/2
Oboe 1/2
English Horn
E-flat Clarinet
B-flat Clarinet 1/2
B-flat Clarinet 3
Bass Clarinet
Bassoon 1/2
Alto Saxophone 1/2
Tenor Saxophone
Baritone Saxophone

B-flat Trumpet 1/2
B-flat Trumpet 3/4
F Horn 1/2
F Horn 3/4
Trombone 1
Trombone 2
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
(TC Baritone)
Tuba

Double Bass
Piano

Timpani
Percussion 1 (tambourine, snare drum, tom-toms, tenor drum, triangle, suspended cymbal, hi-hat)
Percussion 2 (suspended cymbal, bass drum, woodblock, triangle, glockenspiel, antique cymbal, bongos)
Percussion 3 (xylophone, vibraphone)

Program Notes
Sinfonietta is a challenging, extended work for symphonic wind band. It is in three movements: Dance with the Devil, A Glimpse of Paradise and Reyes Magos. The first two movements are a transition from dark to light; Dance with the Devil is aggressive and occasionally macabre whereas A Glimpse of Paradise is serene. The first and final parts of the second movement were originally written for a sequence in the Royal Military Tattoo 2000, played under the John Magee poem High Flight – ‘Oh I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth...Put out my hand, and touched the face of God’ - with videos of eagle owls in flight dramatically projected onto the buildings of Horse Guards in Whitehall, London.

The last movement, Reyes Magos, is the joyous fiesta of the Three Kings. I wrote Sinfonietta while living in Spain and there January 6th, rather than Christmas Day, is the main day of present-giving, marking the Epiphany, the arrival of the Kings from the Orient at the Nativity.

Sinfonietta is technically and expressively demanding but is written within the realms of tonal language.