Sun Dance Frank Ticheli

Alternative Artikelnummer: MBM1037

Sun Dance was written in 1997 on a commission from the Austin Independent School District to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their All-City Honor Band Festival, and it was premiered by that group on March 18 of that year. Amidst a detailed thematic and structural analysis (he reveals a hybrid arch/sonata form for the piece), Ticheli provides a concise program note in the score:
While composing Sun Dance, I was consciously attempting to evoke a feeling: bright joy. After completing the work, I found that the music began to suggest a more concrete image a town festival on a warm, sunwashed day. I imagined townspeople gathered in the park, some in small groups, some walking hand in hand, others dancing to the music played by a small band under a red gazebo. Throughout the composition process, I carefully balanced the songlike and dancelike components of bright joy. The oboe's gentle statement of the main melody establishes the work's songlike characteristics, while in the work's middle section, a lyrical theme of even greater passion appears. Several recurring themes are indeed more vocal than instrumental in nature.

The work's dancelike qualities are enhanced by a syncopated rhythmic figure. The figure is used not only in the main melody, but also as a structural building block for virtually everything in the piece, including other melodies, accompaniment figures, and episodes.

Suitable for middle school through college bands, and community bands.

Instrumentation

1 Full Score
1 Piccolo
4 Flute 1
4 Flute 2
1 Oboe 1
1 Oboe 2
4 Bb Clarinet 1
4 Bb Clarinet 2
4 Bb Clarinet 3
3 Bb Bass Clarinet & Bb Contrabass Clarinet
1 Bassoon 1
1 Bassoon 2
3 Eb Alto Saxophone 1
3 Eb Alto Saxophone 2
2 Bb Tenor Saxophone
1 Eb Baritone Saxophone
3 Bb Trumpet 1
3 Bb Trumpet 2
3 Bb Trumpet 3
2 F Horn 1­3
2 F Horn 2­4
2 Trombone 1
2 Trombone 2
2 Trombone 3
3 Euphonium B.C.
2 Euphonium T.C.
4 Tuba
2 Timpani
2 Percussion 1
2 Percussion 2
3 Percussion 3