A Midwestern Suite - Wind Orchestra - FULL SCORE

A Midwestern Suite for Wind Orchestra (2020)

Tom Davoren

A Midwestern Suite for Wind Orchestra

Instrumentation Flute 1 & 2 Oboe Clarinet 1, 2, 3 Bass Clarinet (optional) Bassoon (optional) Alto Sax 1 & 2 Tenor Sax Baritone Sax Horns in F (optional second part) Trumpet 1, 2, 3 Trombone 1, 2, 3 Euphonium Tuba String Bass (optional) Timpani Percussion 1 - Suspended Cymbal, Class Cymbal, Concert Tom-toms, Triangle Percussion 2 - Tam-tam, Tubular Bells Percussion 3 - Concert Brass Drum, Vibraphone Percussion 4 - Concert Brass Drum, Tam-tam, Suspended Cymbal, Xylophone

Programme Note

A Midwestern Suite was commissioned in 2020 by a consortium of 16 universities and high schools from the midwestern states of the USA and provinces of Canada. In three separate movements, Prairie, Storm, and Sunset, the suite seeks to represent in music aspects of the midwest noted for their respective grandeur and beauty. The thematic material of each movement is based on the classic western folk song , ‘Home on the Range’, and a number of popular midwestern tunes are hidden through the work in an incidental manner.

Tom Davoren (Lawrence, Kansas 2020)

Difficulty: 3 Duration: c. 7 minutes 45 seconds A Midwestern Suite was awarded the National Band Association Merrill Jones Composition Prize in 2020.

Further titles available from www.tomdavoren.co.uk Copyright Tom Davoren 2020

Commissioned by University of Kansas Dr. Paul W. Popiel Arkansas State University Dr. Sarah J. Labovitz Baker University Dr. Frank Perez Blue Valley High School Daniel Freeman Blue Valley North West High School Adam Lundine Blue Valley South West High School Brandon Lesando California Polytechnic State University Dr. Nicholas P. Waldron Carroll University Dr. Darrell Brown & Dr. Brett Keating Gardner Edgerton High School Will Biggs University of Manitoba Jacqueline Dawson Marietta College Dr. Nils Landsberg MidAmerica Nazarene University Dr. Luke Johnson Miami University Dr. Brooke Johnson Valdosta State University Dr. Benjamin Harper Washburn Rural High School Luke Chaffee Winterset High School Lucas Petersen

Conductor’s Perspective A Midwestern Suite is a three-movement work that encapsulates the grandeur and beauty of “America’s Heartland.” Each movement, Prairie, Storm, and Sunset captures the pictorial landscape and the vastly changing weather patterns known so well in middle-America. The unifying thematic material is the nostalgic folk tune and the official state song of Kansas, “Home on the Range.”

Prairie begins with bell-like major chords, reminiscing on Copland and Bernstein’s spatial writing that musically described the open prairies of early nineteenth-century America. The low-brass and French horns begin with “Home on the Range” as the flutes and oboes have pointed, staccato eighth-notes and trills as if birds are flying through the wheat fields of the Great Plains. Intertwined with “Home on the Range” is the shimmer of metallic percussion providing a light and song-like texture.

Storm’s setting in triple-meter and with running eighth-notes provides a level of uncertainty and urgency that often comes with a spring storm or winter squall. This movement is based off the major third interval, frequently heard in “Home on the Range,” yet in a minor key, once again referencing the darkness of a storm. The composer does a wonderful job juxtaposing the storm’s rhythmic complexity with the lyrical tune “Sunflower Song,” made famous by Frank Sinatra.

The third and final movement, Sunset, is a perfect setting not only to end the piece, but to a beautiful summer day. A serene clarinet solo leads to heroic cadences once again with the melodic tune “Home on the Range” and with the addition of “Fighting Jayhawk,” one of KU’s official fight songs. Ending with an E-flat major chord, this movement circles back to the openness of movement one, as a sunset is the beginning to a new day.

A Midwestern Suite is a musical journey through twelve of America’s greatest states.

Similar to how the Midwest contains large cites, vast planes, and a diverse population.

It’s a true ‘snapshot’ of America, with lyrical tunes, rhythmic melodies, and engaging musical lines for each instrument.

Nicholas P. Waldron Associate Director of Bands, California Polytechnic State University