Athabasca
Peter Meechan
Ensemble: Wind Orchestra
Grade: 5
Duration: 11:00
Year of Composition: 2018
Commissioned by: Edmonton Winds (Ray Baril, conductor)
Publisher: Peter Meechan
Year of Publication: 2018
Publisher Catalog Number: PMM144
Available: Yes
How to Acquire: Publisher, Purchase
Links:
Piccolo
Flutes 1,2
Oboes 1,2
Bassoons 1,2
B♭ Clarinets 1,2,3,4
B♭ Bass Clarinet
E♭ Alto Saxes 1,2
B♭ Tenor Sax
E♭ Baritone Sax
B♭ Trumpets 1,2,3,4
F Horns 1,2,3,4
Trombones 1,2
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
Tuba
Double Bass
Piano
Percussion (6 players):
1. Timpani
2. Triangle, Bass Drum
3. Suspended Cymbal, Tubular Bells
4. Glockenspiel, Marimba
5. Vibraphone, Suspended Cymbal
6. Marimba, Suspended Cymbal
Program Notes:
The stunning Athabasca Glacier, in the Columbia Icefield in the Canadian Rockies, provided the inspiration for this work. After having visited the Glacier in 2016, I knew that it would find a place in my music – the sheer magnitude of it was stunning, the visual was breath-taking, and the rate at which it is receding (5 meters per year) completely devastating.
Now sadly collapsed, beneath the Glacier there were great, expansive ice caves – thankfully they were photographed by explorers, and it is these photos that provided the inspiration for the work; an imaginary walk through these fragile, beautiful structures; what music would sound like in them, what talking would sound like in them; and what moments of listening would sound like in them.
When writing the piece I also wanted to try and acknowledge the diminishing nature of the Glacier. Whilst not being something you can visibly notice by simply observing for a short time, it is still happening in front of very eyes. This is represented by the tempos in the piece – almost doubling from the original tempo to the fastest tempo of the work (around 2/3rds of the way through), and – hopefully – almost imperceptibly.
When commissioned by Ray Baril and the Edmonton Winds to write a new work for them, the Alberta connection between the group and the Glacier was impossible to resist.
(Peter Meechan)