Alpenglow

Description

Alto Saxophone, Tuba, Flute 1, Flute 2, Flute 3, Piccolo, Oboe 1, Oboe 2, English Horn, Bassoon 1, Bassoon 2, Contrabassoon, Contrabass Clarinet, Clarinet in Bb 1, Clarinet in Bb 2, Clarinet in Bb 3, Clarinet in Bb 4, Bass Clarinet, Soprano Saxophone, Alto Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Horn in F 1, Horn in F 2, Horn in F 3, Trumpet in Bb 1, Trumpet in Bb 2, Trumpet in Bb 3, Trombone 1, Trombone 2, Bass Trombone, Euphonium 1, Euphonium 2, Tuba 1, Tuba 2, Timpani, Percussion 1, Percussion 2, Percussion 3, Percussion 4, Piano, Celesta, String Bass 1, String Bass 2 — The first time I saw an alpenglow, I had no idea what it was. It was the late 1980s, and I was at a music camp at the base of theRocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. A few of us got up in the middle of the night so we could hike to a vantage pointat the foot of Longs Peak, to watch the sun rise without any trees obstructing our view. Even though we had a few moreminutes to go before the sun breached the horizon, when I looked up at the face of Longs Peak, it was glowing intensely with amost beautiful peach-pink color. This enchanting vision lasted only about ten minutes, after which the color faded as the sunrose. Throughout the next thirty years, whenever I returned to the Rocky Mountain National Park, I would occasionally catchthis pre-dawn light show in all its glory.An alpenglow is an optical phenomenon that is visible on high altitude mountains. It happens twice daily, right before the sunrises and right after it sets. The earth’s atmosphere scatters the sun’s light, allowing particular wavelengths of light through andblanketing the mountains in rich hues of peach, pink, red, and purple.Alpenglow opens with First Light. This movement begins in the pre-dawn hour. The music starts simply and slowly, thengrows increasingly animated as the sky lightens and the horizon shimmers with color. The movement explodes in a massiveflurry of activity when the sun crosses the horizon; this energy eventually fades as the sun rises in the sky. In Arc of the Sun,we follow the sun as it energetically leaps and surges upwards in the sky. The music moves steadily upwards as it keeps pacewith the sun’s progress, then crests as the sun reaches its zenith. As the sun bends back down towards the earth, the musicfollows suit, getting lower in range and slower as the sun nears the horizon. In Radiant Glow, the sun slips under the horizon,giving way to a most radiant alpenglow. As the alpenglow fades and twilight envelops the earth, stars shimmer in the nightsky.-S.G. Inspired by an optical phenomenon only visible from high altitude mountains at dawn and dusk, this double concerto for alto saxophone and tuba traces the sun’s daily journey over such peaks. The solo parts accumulate virtuosic animation across the work’s three movements, and eventually settle into evening stillness, when, according to the composer, the alpenglow is at its most radiant: “The earth’s atmosphere scatters the sun’s light, allowing only particular wavelengths through, and blanketing the mountains in rich hues of peach, pink, red, and purple.”