Arria
Steffan Brunette
Ensemble: Wind Ensemble
Solo Instrument: Veena
Grade: 4.5
Duration: 08:30
Year of Composition: 2012
Premiered by: Middlefield C.I. Senior Concert Band (Arrabi Gugathasan, veena; Steffan Brunette, conductor)
Date of Premiere: Spring, 2013
Publisher: self-published
Available: Yes
How to Acquire: Composer
Links:
Solo Veena
Flutes 1,2
B♭ Clarinets 1,2,3
B♭ Bass Clarinet
E♭ Alto Saxes 1,2
B♭ Tenor Sax (div.)
E♭ Baritone Sax
B♭ Trumpets 1,2,3
Horns 1,2
Trombones 1,2
Euphonium
Tuba
7-8 Percussion
Score and parts available from the composer at no charge.
Program Notes:
This is the fourth “junior” concerto written for the senior ensemble at MCI. The school has a large south-Asian population, and music and dance of this culture figures prominently in the personal lives of many of the students. While it may be said that music is a “universal language”, the type of music typically performed by the concert band is primarily Western, and primarily American. Many students study their cultural music, and when it came to be known that one of them, Arrabi Gugathasan, was preparing for a significant graduation recital on the veena, there was the possibility of combining
this instrument with the concert band in an effort to bridge the two musical worlds. The title is a play on the word “aria”, indicating a piece of a lyrical nature. Coincidentally, all of these letters are in Arrabi’s name, and the double “r” makes it even more personal for her.
Carnatic music, or “classical” Indian music, is famous for its multitude of scales. While there are many mystical connections claimed for various scales (affecting emotions, physical chakras, and requiring performance at certain times of day), from the Western perspective, they are developed from the permutations of two tetrachords. Carnatic music is principally melodic. Very little harmony is used to support melodic lines. Instead, performers make use of a sruthi to provide a drone on a perfect fifth. This may be an instrument performed live, or through the use of an electronic device. For the purposes of Arria, the sruthi drone is provided by saxophones and muted trombones, and other instruments at various times.
In 2014, the piece was revised for a performance by the Uxbridge Community Concert Band.
(Steffan Brunette)