American Festival Series - Special Edition #6
Music by William Himes
Brian Bowen, Editor
Program Note
- Praise in Joy
- Praise in Meditation
- Praise in Sadness and Persecution
- Praise in Fellowship
Based on the hymn, Azmon, to which are associated the words, "O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise", this expansive work seeks to depict various moods, scenes and emotions associated with Christian worship. Motives are extracted from the melody and transformed into new themes, or variants, which vividly portray the "aspect" of each movement.
Note to the Conductor
When performing this piece in its entirety the attention to stamina and pacing will be as crucial as the technical challenges one can expect from a variation piece of this scope. This is especially true of the third movement where sustained intensity is frequently employed.
All tempo, expression and articulation indications show clearly how the music should be interpreted and performed. While this is not the most difficult music ever written, the breadth of mood, emotion and musicality surely requires musicians to be on their best form to pull this off.
Instrumentation: (optional transpositions in parenthesis) Full Score Eb Soprano 2nd Baritone Solo Cornet 1st Trombone (b.c.) 1st Cornet 2nd Trombone (b.c.) 2nd Cornet Bass Trombone Flugel Horn Euphonium Solo Horn Eb Bass 1st Horn Bb Bass (b.c.) 2nd Horn Percussion I 1st Baritone Percussion II
