Four Horsemen

by
Andrew Staniland

Ensemble: Symphonic Band

Additional Performing Forces: Electronics

Duration: 09:30

Year of Composition: 2012

Commissioned by: National Arts Centre Orchestra and MusicFest Canada

Premiered by: Denis Wick Canadian Wind Orchestra (Mark Hopkins, conductor)

Date of Premiere: May 19, 2012

Publisher: Canadian Music Centre

Year of Publication: 2012

Publisher Catalog Number: MI 9373 S784fo

Available: Yes

How to Acquire: Publisher, Purchase

Links:

Web Page

Sample Audio

Perusal Score 

Instrumentation

Piccolo
Flutes 1,2 (one solo flute amplified)
Oboe
Bassoon
B♭ Clarinets 1,2,3
B♭ Bass Clarinet
E♭ Alto Saxes 1,2
B♭ Tenor Sax
E♭ Baritone Sax
B♭ Trumpets 1,2,3
F Horns 1,2,3,4
Trombones 1,2,3
Euphonium
Tuba
Double Bass
Timpani
Percussion (4 players)
Live Electronics

Commissioned by the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Pinchas Zukerman, music director) and Musicfest Canada in honour of its 40th anniversary.


Program Notes:

Around the time I was writing this piece in 2012, I had recently completed a series of three chamber works inspired by the passage of the solstices and equinoxes: Solstice Songs, for the Gryphon Trio, The River is Within Us for Duo Concertante, and Still Turning, for cellist Frances-Marie Uitti. While composing these works, I came to find inspiration in the idea that phrases such as “the four corners of the earth”, “four horsemen”, and “four angels” can be interpreted beyond their caricature roles, echoing an ancient knowledge about astronomy and celestial movement which sets my creativity alight. I began to interpret the idea of the 4 horsemen in musical ways: The use of four large concert bass drums, four swinging crotales, and of course the actual recorded sounds of horses (and their modern-day equivalents which I interpreted to be motorcycles) making audible appearances in the electronics. The resulting piece is a fierce yet inquisitive modern work that is more about the joy and inspiration of scientific knowledge than about an apocalyptic vision of the end of the World.

(Andrew Staniland via Canadian Music Centre)