Threnos

Description

Piccolo, Flute 1, Flute 2, Flute 3, Piccolo, Oboe 1, Oboe 2, Cor anglais, Clarinet in Eb, Clarinet in Bb 1, Clarinet in Bb 2, Clarinet in Bb 3, Bass Clarinet, Bassoon 1, Bassoon 2, Contrabassoon, Horn in F 1, Horn in F 2, Horn in F 3, Horn in F 4, Trumpet in Bb 1, Trumpet in Bb 2, Trumpet in Bb 3, Trumpet in Bb 4, Trombone 1, Trombone 2, Bass Trombone, Bb Baritone Horn 1, Bb Baritone Horn 2, Tuba, Timpani, Suspended Cymbal, Chinese Cymbal, Tam-Tam, Percussion 1, Marimba, Percussion 2, Vibraphone, Snare Drum, Percussion 3, Chime, Tom-tom, Glockenspiel, Percussion 4, Bass Drum, Xylophone, Glockenspiel, Crotales, Piano — Threnos (lamentation; dirge) was commissioned by Marice Stith and the Cornell University Wind Ensemble in memory of my colleague and friend Brian Israel, a gifted American composer who died of leukemia at the age of thirty-five.The music is dominated by three elements: the forceful arpeggiated gesture heard in the horns at the opening; the constant tolling of bells, both literal (piano, vibraphone, chimes, etc.) and figurate; and a fragment of lament-like melody first heard in the solo oboe near the beginning. At its climax, the music takes up this oboe melody in a full-throated cry of grief.Threnos was completed in January 1988 and first performed March 6 of that year in Ithaca, NY, by the Cornell University Wind Ensemble conducted by Marice Stith.