Firefeeder's Dance

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Program Notes Homo neanderthalensis, more commonly known as the Neanderthal, was a species (or debatably subspecies) of hominid separate from us Homo sapiens. For years, these specimens have been depicted as brutish, stupid and anti-social, driven mostly out of animal instinct, but the last half-century or so of archiological discovery flys in the face of these proconseptions. While contested, there is evidence to support the ideas that Neanderthals were the first peoples to intentionally bury their dead, may have practiced the earliest forms of totemism/animism, built flute-like instruments out of bone, participated in song and dance, and like us, had an attachment to fire. While no finds have suggested that Neanderthals could create fire, we have found enormous ash pits that they left behind. It is most likely that fire would naturally occur through an event like a lightning strike or a drought, and the Neanderthals would do everything they could to keep it burning for as long as possible. We have no record as to what Neanderthal music would have sounded like (they left no sheet music behind for us to read), but it doesn’t seem unreasonable they would have connected fire, up-tempo music, dance, and possibly even rituals much in the same way that Homo sapiens would. This composition begins with the sound of the flute on its own, to pay homage to the single tool this species had in their orchestrational toolboxes, and grows into a percussion-driven groove section. Just as the Neanderthals would have likely only used shorter musical figures, the main rhythmic figure around which the work is based is only 4 measures in length (in cut time) and comes back over and over again to serve as the basis for the rest of the work, trading off with the groove section. Swells of noise leading into one another that sound almost like a piano recording played in reverse present a ghostly quality, intended to represent spirits or spiritual essence linked to the Neanderthal’s animism. Finally, the whole piece builds, with the main motive momentarily becoming more complicated, right before reaching its end. Instrumentation Woodwinds Flutes I & II Oboe (optional) Bassoon (optional) Bb Clarinet I, II, & III Bb Bass Clarinet Bb Contrabass Clarinet (optional) Alto Saxophone I & II Tenor Saxophone Baritone Saxophone Brass Trumpet I, II, & III Horn I & II Trombone I, II, & III Euphonium Tuba Percussion (5 players) 4 Timpani High Hat 5 Temple Blocks 2 Hand Drums, High and Low (ex: Congas, Bongos, 2 Djembes, etc) Concert Bass Drum Kick Drum If 6 Percussionists are available, use above instrumentation plus tamborine If 7 Percussionists are available, use above instrumentation plus tamborine, triangle, and tam-tam Pedagogical Aid Typically, the most difficult part of learning this composition is understanding the recurring rhythm that first comes up at measure 45. The quickest way to teach this rhythm usually is to split it into two parts (ex: 45-46, 47-48) and use a verbal model to show the shifts between downbeats and upbeats. For example, " I don' t want to eat mashed potatoes" and " I just want to eat cheesy broccoli" fits each of the two small chunks respectively, and having the ensemble repeat these phrases can improve the effectiveness of the first sightreading session. Acknowledgments Special thanks to Dr. Curran Prendergast, who prompted Firefeeder' s inception. Special thanks to Dr. Victor Marquez-Barrios, for his oversight of this project.
Flute I/II Oboe (Optional) Slowly; Very Freely Solo or Soli 1 ° & b œ j œ bœ œ ‰ ‰ j œ œ œ bœ <strong>Firefeeder's</strong> <strong>Dance</strong> A Neanderthal Impression for Wind Ensemble œ œ -œ œ œ œ ‰ ‰ j œ œ œ j bœ œ j œ œ bœ œ œ -œ œ By Kyle Rieger p mf p f p mf p f pp &b ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ U bœ œ Œ œbœ œbœ œ œ œ j bœ bœ U ˙ 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 6 8 Bassoon (Optional) ? b ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ U Bb Clarinet I Bb Clarinet II/III Bass Clarinet & # ∑ ∑ œ œ œ j ‰ ‰ Œ pp f pp pp f pp mf pp f pp & # ∑ ∑ œ œ œ j ‰ ‰ Œ pp f pp pp f pp bœ œ œ ∑ . j ‰ ‰ Œ œ bœ œ œj ‰ ‰ Œ . ∑ Let Flute Lead ∑ bœ œ œ œ j ‰ ‰ Œ pp f pp œœ j ‰ ‰ Œ . & # ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ U œœ œœ ∑ ∑ ∑ U ∑ U Contrabass Clarinet (Optional) & # ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ U Alto Saxophone I/II Tenor Saxophone Baritone Saxophone & # # ∑ Œ œ ∑ . ∑ ∑ ∑ U ∑ n œj ‰ ‰ Œ Œ bœœ œœ j ‰ ‰ Œ Œ bœ œ œJ ‰ ‰ Œ pp f pp f pp f & # ∑ Œ œ œ j ‰ ‰ Œ ∑ Œ œ œ j ‰ ‰ Œ ∑ ∑ Œ ∑ U ∑ . œ œ j ‰ ‰ Œ . pp f pp f pp f ¢ & # # ∑ Œ œ œ j ‰ ‰ Œ ∑ Œ œ œ j ‰ ‰ Œ ∑ ∑ Œ ∑ U ∑ . œ œ j ‰ ‰ Œ . pp f pp f pp f Bb Trumpet I ° & # ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ U ∑ Bb Trumpet II/III & # ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ U Horn I/II & ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ U Trombone I ? b ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ U Trombone II/II ? b ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ U Euphonium ? b ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ U Tuba Timpani ? ¢ b ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ U ∑ Slowly; Very Freely F, C, Eb, F ° ? ¢ b ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ U ∑ Percussion I (High Hat) ° / ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ U ∑ Percussion II (2 Hand Drums, High and Low) / ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ U Percussion III (Bass Drum) / ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ U Percussion IV (Kick Drum) / ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ U Percussion V (Optional) (Tambourine) / ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ U Percussion VI (Optional) (Triangle) ¢ / ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ U ∑ ©2022
Page 1: Firefeeder's Dance A Neanderthal Im
Page 5 and 6: Fl I/II Ob Bsn Cl I Cl II/III BCl C
Page 7 and 8: Fl I/II 39 nœœ . ° & b J ‰ ‰
Page 9 and 10: Fl I/II Ob Bsn Cl I Cl II/III > > >
Page 11 and 12: Fl I/II Solo 9 69 - œ . ° 3 2 C 3
Page 13 and 14: Fl I/II Ob > > > 85 ° & b ∑ ∑
Page 15 and 16: Fl I/II 101 105 q=e ° & b ∑ ∑
Page 19 and 20: Fl I/II Ob 131 e=q > > > > > > > >
Page 23 and 24: Fl I/II 163 163 A Tempo (q.=76) . .

Firefeeder's Dance

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