Wide Open Spaces
For French Horn and Piano

ChristinaRusnak
ã Copyright 2024 Christina Rusnak All rights reserved internationally.
Cover Photo: ã Copyright 2024 Christina Rusnak
ChristinaRusnak
ã Copyright 2024 Christina Rusnak All rights reserved internationally.
Cover Photo: ã Copyright 2024 Christina Rusnak
Duration: ~ 8:30
Notes:
Commissioned by The Grapefruits Duo, Margarite Waddell Horn, and Coco Bender Piano, in Spring 2024, the piece originally began as an exploration of contrasting spaces in nature – of spacious landscapes, and intimate terrains immeshed with diverse flora. But I was missing a key element that defined and thrived in these landscapes, so I incorporated the creatures who called these places home long before people arrived.
Focusing on Wide Open Spaces, six short vignettes step us into the expansive and intimate spaces of the landscape:
Wide Open Spaces
Critters
Spacious Night Flights Over Ancient Seas
A River Runs Through It
A Place Called Home
- Christina Rusnak, 2024
Performance Notes:
The piece is supposed to be fun and experiential, so please feel free to be expressive
Transposed Score
= 54
Behind Piano, Offstage or
Bell to back curtain
Horn in F Piano
Pedal Lightly as needed
Christina Rusnak
Wings on Ancient Seas Fluttery- like wings of hundreds of birds
1/2 Blur notes slightly = 100 - 108 at pitch sempre
D = 60 legato
A River Runs Through It
Flowing with playful fish
Pedal Lightly as needed sempre
Fanfare For Justice Horn Solo and Horn Quartet versions
Forest and the Architect Flute, Clarinet, Horn, Violin, Cello
Going Rogue Trumpet, Horn, Trombone
Unbidden and more…. Piano Solo
Wy’am Flute, Clarinet, French Horn, Double Bass & Percussion Quartet
Passionate about composing about place and the human experience, composer Christina Rusnak works at the intersection of place, nature, culture, history and art to integrate context into her music from the world around her to convey something meaningful about the human experience to both the audience and performers.
Ms. Rusnak composes for diverse instrumentations with lyrical lines, and organic rhythms and textures. Her pieces range from elementary to professional levels and includes chamber ensemble, orchestra, wind band, choral and solo works, as well as flex band pieces, electroacoustic works, and film.
An avid hiker, cultural geographer and a member of the Landscape Music Composers Network, Ms. Rusnak has worked with National and State Park Services, to sonically explore and celebrate our many environmental treasures In 2019, she led the renowned Composing in the Wilderness Seminar in Alaska. Her work has been performed across the country, and internationally. Inspired by cultural and social issues, Ms. Rusnak’s piece From the Sidewalk, addresses the invisibility of a homeless woman in New York City. Liberty’s Light, for women’s choir, examines immigration from 19th to 21st century perspectives. Fanfare for Justice musically depicts the 2020 protests of police violence. Her 2023 album, Voices of the Land was awarded a Bronze medal in the 2023 Global Music Awards.
An advocate for New Music, Rusnak has served as Sound Art Curator for the Dallas Contemporary Art Museum, as Executive Director for Orchestra 2001 in Philadelphia, and currently serves as president of the International Alliance for Women in Music Her essays on music and advocacy can be found on New Music Box, LandscapeMusic.org, and more. Her works are available from Amazon, Naxos and Parma Recordings. Scores are available through her website and distributors. http://christinarusnak.com
http://christinarusnak.com