CHORUS AND SYMPHONIC BAND

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GLEAMS FROM THE
BOSOM OF DARKNESS

for symphonic band and chorus or vocal ensemble

Duration:

18 minutes

Instrumentation:

3 flutes (3rd also doubles piccolo), alto Flute; 3 oboes (3rd doubles English horn; 3 bassoons (3rd doubles contra bassoon); piccolo clarinet, 6 clarinets, bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet; 4 saxophones (SATB); 6 horns; 3 trumpets; 2 flugelhorns; 3 tenor trombones, 1 Bass trombone; 1 euphonium, 2 tubas; double bass; harp; piano/celeste (one player); percussion (5 players); three narrators: alto, tenor and bass. (also sing with the on-stage chorus); soprano soloist (from the on-stage chorus); on-Stage chorus (about 48-96 singers); back-stage women chorus or vocal ensemble (amplified)

Year Composed:

2002

Text:

Vocalize
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Language:

Vocalize, English

Written For:

Frank L. Battisti

Commissioned By:
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Premiere Performance:

29, April 2005 ,
Boston, MA, USA
MIT Chorus and Wind Ensemble
William Cutter, chorus director
Fred Harris, conductor

SYMPHONIC BAND AND CHORUS

THEMES:

LIGHT

DARKNESS

ILLUMINATION

SYMBOLISM

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Program Notes:

Gleams from the Bosom of Darkness, for symphonic band and chorus, is influenced by various sources of light: the moon, stars, lanterns, and lighthouses that guide our way through darkness. Light exhibits different intensities, colors, and halos. It flickers, twinkles, shimmers, dazzles, gleams, and dims. All of these visual images found their way into my score. Therefore, Gleams from the Bosom of Darkness is a journey through darkness surrounded by ever-changing sources of light. Symbolically, light helps us move from darkness to a better place in our lives, from difficult times to better ones.

The endless coloristic opportunities that the chorus and wind ensemble provide drove me to create an atmospheric, mysterious, and somewhat meditative work rather than a piece that uses the wind ensemble merely as an accompanist to the chorus. Blocks of sound and rapidly changing colors replace lyrical melodies or functional harmonies. The chorus and wind ensemble function as a single body; both are instruments as well as voices.

My search for texts ended when I read the poems and other writings of Henry W. Longfellow (1807-1882). Longfellow’s work is replete with descriptive images of light and darkness, both visually and symbolically. His poems offer the closest written descriptions of light and darkness as I imagined while composing the music. Written at a time when electricity was just being introduced, his poems still convey a romantic quality in their depiction of light—a more personal connection between humanity and illumination. In my composition, I used fragments from various poems to support the musical exploration of light and darkness.

Gleams from the Bosom of Darkness was commissioned by “The Frank L. Battisti 70th Birthday Commission Project” and is dedicated to Frank Battisti in fond appreciation of his life achievements.

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