LOPE
For Chamber Ensemble
MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS
Copyright © 2018 • KONGCHA MUSIC (ASCAP)
International Copyright Secured • All Rights Reserved. All rights for this work administered by G. Schirmer, Inc. (ASCAP)\
LOPE
For Chamber Ensemble
MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS
COMPOSED: 2017
WORLD PREMIERE: February 2, 2018. Michael Tilson Thomas, New World Symphony
Instrumentation
PICCOLO 1
PICCOLO 2
PICCOLO 3 (Flute, Alto Flute)
CLARINET IN Ef
BASS CLARINET IN Bf
ALTO SAXOPHONE (Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone)
TENOR SAXOPHONE (Baritone Saxophone)
Bf PICCOLO TRUMPET 1
Bf PICCOLO TRUMPET 2 (Bf Trumpet)
Bf PICCOLO TRUMPET 3 (Bf Trumpet)
PERCUSSION 1
(Castanets (mounted), High Woodblock, Crotales, Chimes)
PERCUSSION 2
(Guiro, Chimes, Crotales, Timbales, Castanets (mounted))
PERCUSSION 3 (Crotales, Woodblocks, Chimes, Castanets (mounted))
XYLOPHONE
MARIMBA
VIBRAPHONE
CELESTA
PIANO 1
PIANO 2
ELECTRIC BASS
Duration: 9:39 (rehearsal duration) 9:25 (performance duration)
Program Notes
The dogs always sense when it’s time to go for a walk.
They start paying close attention the moment I get up from my desk or my piano. As I walk around gathering layers of clothes, shoes, leashes and poop bags they give out little yips and yelps of mounting excitement. The dogs think, “Why can’t the humans just leave the house? But no, they always have to put on something else and go back and find something. And what are all these odd cold objects they’re always carrying around, anyway?”
At last we’re all outside. From now on the experience is one for the humans and a very different one for the dogs. From the moment we’re out the door the dogs are in a world of smells and sounds and textures and eddies, worlds which the people mostly don’t get. Our common stride or lope moves us all along. Together fleeting impressions come and go. In people's minds are bits of songs, dances, memories. The dogs hear exciting perky bursts of sounds and then completely lose themselves in the profound pungencies that are at every turn.
Somewhere along the way there is a bench or log to sit on to feel the air, admire the view and ponder as, off leash, the pups quietly cruise the mysteries of the immediate territory. It’s time for joyous sprinting and fetching, enjoying the rushing apart and coming back together.
Just when it’s really getting to be fun, wouldn’t you know it. The humans remember something they have to do, or study, or practice and it’s time to head home, still with plenty of mystery to revel in before the last bark.
B
2 4 3 4 2 4 3 4 2 4
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