TODAY AND TODAY AND TO DAY AND TODAY AND TODA Y AND TODAY AND TODAY A ND TODAY AND TODAY AND TODAY
for orchestra
2021, rev. 2023
Commissioned by the Seattle Symphony
Thomas Dausgaard, Music Director and co-sponsored by the New Mexico Philharmonic
General:
Accents should be very pronounced throughout.
Glissandi should last the entire duration of the note that originates the glissando
Winds:
Boxed notation continues for the duration of the line in the staff. Descriptions above the staff continue for the duration of the arrow above the staff. If multiple musicians have the same notation, it should not be synchronized.
Note values in parentheses above the staff are the length of time that unnotated material take up either before or after notated material
Large wavy line indicates a wide, distorted vibrato
Upward arrow noteheads indicate highest possible pitch
Stemless noteheads indicate indeterminate pitch. Move in the general direction of the line.
Mute the instrument/stop the tone
A plus symbol above notehead means the note is stopped
Strings:
Bend pitch in indicated direction
Harp
X notehead indicates scratch tone
Continue glissando at the same speed past the indicated note (for the full length of note).
Glissando downward with fingernails
Flute 1-2
Flute 2 doubles Picoolo
Oboe
English Horn
Clarinet in B@b 1-2
Bassoon 1-2
Horn in F 1-3
Trumpet in C 1-2
Trombone
Tuba
Timpani
Percussion 1: Vibraphone
Snare Drum
Percussion 2: Xylophone
Bongos
Triangle
Bass Drum
Percussion 3: Marimba
Suspended Cymbal
Tam-Tam
Harp
Piano
Strings (Minimum Divisi)
Violin I 1-4
Violin 2 1-3
Viola 1-3
Violoncello 1-3
Contrabass 1-2
TODAY AND TODAY AND TODAY AND TODAY AND TODAY AND TODAY AND TODAY AND TODAY AND TODAY AND TODAY was the first piece I wrote once COVID-19 restrictions started to ease in 2021. I was asked by Seattle Symphony to respond to a symphony of Jean Sibelius, and I was inspired by his unfinished eighth. Sibelius worked on the piece for 30 years, but he never completed it. I was fascinated by the image of him returning to his workspace, day after day, attempting to summit an insurmountable peak.
TODAY AND… evokes both the feeling of being trapped in a repetitive cycle — something felt acutely during the height of the pandemic — and the unexpected gift of presentness I found sitting with and accepting this repetition. Glissandi, stretched throughout the entire string section, and an energetic rhythmic motif reflect waves of disorientation and euphoria. The piece begins with and returns to an aggressive major 3rd — a moment when we decide to begin again, and again, and again.
Duration: c. 18 minutes
- Ellen Reid