Music Finland Core

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A river to fill the silence began as a commission for a violin sonata from my friend Brandon Christensen in 1998. However, due to other projects, it was not until several months after the premature death in April 2001 of Brandon's mentor, the remarkable violinist and teacher Mitchell Stern, that the piece finally reached my work desk. After seeing so many of my close friends lost and bereaved at his death, I knew that the sonata upon which I was about to embark would have to become an elegy for a man whom I knew only slightly, but had liked very well.The resulting work is highly fractured. I struggled for months with the issue of how, musically speaking, I could eulogize Mitch. It was a problem which finally tore open the hermetic, classical form I had originally envisioned and let in a flood of extramusical associations. Contrasts abound, from a classical sonata-form movement abruptly cut off in mid-development, to a dancelike section with strains of folk melody, reflective lyrical interludes, church bells and passacaglia-like variation sections over long pedals. In effect, the work acts as a musical basin into which flow various stylistic arguments, different elaborations of the same basic thematic material which combine into a torrent at the end. The piece may not add up to be greater than the sum of its parts, but rather becomes a fragmented reconstruction of a whole, like the shards of a broken vase glued back together. Rather than strictly mourning a man's death, the music was also an attempt to provide some consolation to those left behind. Perhaps, like the violin's central quotation of the Baptist hymn Down in the river to pray, it is when memory alights on a single, tender thought that we find solace after a great loss.As I went down in the river to pray,Studyin' about the good old way,And who shall wear the starry crownGood Lord, show me the wayOh, sinners, let's go down,Let's go down, come on down.Come on, sinners, let's go down,Down in the river to pray© Matthew Whittall

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Arranger

Movements

Availability

Abbreviation	Instrument
Woodwind
acl	alto clarinet
afl	alto flute
arec	alto recorder
asax	alto saxophone
barsax	baritone saxophone
barhn	baritone horn
bcl	bass clarinet
bfl	bass flute
bob	bass oboe
bsax	bass saxophone
bsn	bassoon
cbsn	contrabassoon
cl	clarinet
ehn	English horn
fl	flute
hn	French horn
ob	oboe
pic	piccolo
rec	recorder
sax	saxophone
srec	soprano recorder
ssax	soprano saxophone
trec	tenor recorder
tsax	tenor saxophone
Brass
ahn	alto horn
atrb	altotrombone
barhn	baritone horn
btrb	bass trombone
cornet	cornet
euph	euphonium
fhn	flugelhorn
hn	French horn
tba	tuuba
thn	tenor horn
trb	trombone
trp	trumpet
Percussion
dr	drums
glock	glockenspiel
mar	marimba
perc	percussion
timp	timpani
vibr	vibraphone
xyl	xylophone
Strings
db	double bass
gamba	viola da gamba
str	strings
vla	viola
vlc	cello
vln	violin
Other
acc	accordion
cel	celesta
cemb	harpsichord
chords	chords
elbas	electric bass
elg	electric guitar
elorg	electric organ
elpno	electric piano
guit	guitar
harm	harmonium
hca	harmonica
hp	harp
instr	instrument
kantele	kantele
keyb	keyboard
live electr	live electronics
mand	mandolin
mel	melody
org	organ
pno	piano
synth	synthesizer
tape	tape
Vocal
alto	alto
baryt	baritone
basso	bass voice
ch	choir
chc	childrens choir
chf	female choir
chm	male choir
chx	mixed choir
cten	countertenor
mezzo	mezzo-soprano
sopr	soprano
speaker	speaker
ten	tenor
voc	vocal

Symphony orchestra
2222 4331 11 1, str = 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 French horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, one other percussionist, harp and strings
Wind band
2252 3 423 21212 3 = 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 5 clarinets, 2 bassoons - 3 saxophones - 4 French horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones - 2 cornets, alto horn, 2 tenor horns, baritone horn, 2 tubas - 3 percussionists
Big band
221 4 4, pno, guit, db, dr = 2 alto saxophones, 2 tenor saxophones, baritone saxophone, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, piano, guitar, double bass, drums
Additional codes
+	fl+pic = flutist doubles on piccolo
/	pno/org = can be played on either piano or organ
lib	ad libitum
obl	obligato
str	str: 65432 = specified number of string players
str min	str min: 65432 = at least 65432
str max	str max: 65432 = not more than 65432
solo	vln solo = violin is the solo instrument in a work not obviously for solo violin