Project Description
Orchestra
1974
60 min.
The sheet music is currently unpublished, please contact us if you would like to perform this work.
Listen Now
Preview Score
Instrumentation
Fl-2 Ob-2 BbCl-2 | Hn-2 Tpt Tbn | Hp Hpsd/Pno | Vln-2 Vla VC DB | Perc-2
- Flute (2)
- Oboe (2)
- Clarinet in B♭ (2)
- Horn in F (2)
- Trumpet in B♭
- Trombone
- Harp
- Harpsichord/Piano
- Violin (2)
- Viola
- Violoncello
- Double Bass
- Required Percussion (2 players)
- Triangle (sm.)
- Temple Blocks
- Cow Bell (1 sm., 1 med., 1 lg.)
- Whizz Whistle
- Suspended Cymbal (1 sm., 1 lg.)
- Bass Drum
- Wood Block
- Slap Stick
- Police Whistle
Cast
- Old Mam/Clarinda
- Death/Willy
- Scissor Grinder
- Grocery Clerk
- Children:
- 2 girls
- 1 boy
- Chorus
Completion
11 June, 1975 NYC
Composed at the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, NH on a grant from the State University of NY Research Foundation
Program Note
Music by David Maslanka
Short Story by Ray Bradbury
Libretto by John A. Wiles, Jr.
The theme of transformation, which runs through the entire course of my music, begins with this small opera. “Old Mam” has reached her 90th birthday, terrified of death, alone and friendless. Death, appearing in the form of her years-ago boyfriend, lures her out of her solitude with the offer of reliving her 18th birthday. Her dream day complete, she is ready to release her life.
Further Reading
Rehearsing Alex and the Phantom Band and Saint Francis: Middle Tennessee State University (Oct 2016)
In October 2016, I (Matthew Maslanka) accompanied my father to Middle Tennessee State University where I photographed and recorded his masterclasses and rehearsals. This is his rehearsal on October 25. He helped produce his final [...]
Masterclass: Middle Tennessee State University (Oct 2016)
In October 2016, I (Matthew Maslanka) accompanied my father to Middle Tennessee State University where I photographed and recorded his masterclasses and rehearsals. This is his first masterclass, on October 24. He helped produce his [...]
From the Maslanka Archive – No. 37, Conor Bell’s New Dissertation on David’s Bassoon Music
From the Maslanka Archive features media and stories of David's life and work. This week, we are excited to feature Conor Bell's new dissertation on David's Bassoon Music.
From the Maslanka Archive – No. 36, Anthony Joseph Lanman’s Interview of Matthew
From the Maslanka Archive features media and stories of David's life and work. This week, we are excited to feature Anthony Joseph Lanman's interview with Matthew on his podcast, 1 Track from Matthew's home in New York, NY earlier this year.
Interview with Tiffany Woods (2003)
In May 2003, Tiffany Woods emailed David a series of questions in the course of writing a paper. She was a student at the University of North Carolina Greensboro and taking a Band Literature course [...]
From the Maslanka Archive – No. 35, Damon Talley’s Interview of David
From the Maslanka Archive features media and stories of David's life and work. This week, we are excited to feature one of David's very last interviews. In April of 2017, Damon Talley - Director of Bands at LSU - had the opportunity to sit down with David and discuss Symphony No. 4 during a residency with the LSU Wind Ensemble.
From the Maslanka Archive – No. 33, John Floridis’s Interview of David
From the Maslanka Archive features media and stories of David's life and work. This week, we are excited to feature an episode from Montana Public Radio's Musician's Spotlight featuring John Floridis interviewing David about his music and background as a composer.
From the Maslanka Archive – No. 32, Julian Velasco’s Interview of David – Part 2
From the Maslanka Archive features media and stories of David's life and work. This week, we are excited to feature Part 2 of Julian Velasco's interview of David from his home in Missoula, MT in 2016.
From the Maslanka Archive – No. 31, Julian Velasco’s Interview of David – Part 1
From the Maslanka Archive features media and stories of David's life and work. This week, we are excited to feature Part 1 of Julian Velasco's interview of David from his home in Missoula, MT in 2016.
From the Maslanka Archive – No. 30, Jim Tevenan’s Interview of David
From the Maslanka Archive features media and stories of David's life and work. This week, we are excited to feature an episode from Spokane Public Radio's From The Studio featuring Jim Tevenan interviewing David about his music. The Whitworth Wind Symphony had just performed David's Symphony No. 4.
From the Maslanka Archive – No. 27, David on Composition and the Creative Process
From the Maslanka Archive features media and stories of David's life and work. his week, we are excited to feature an interview David gave to BizMontana on matters of composition and the creative process.
From the Maslanka Archive – No. 14, Letter for Kevin Krumenauer
From the Maslanka Archive features media and stories of David's life and work. This week, we are excited to feature a letter of recommendation written by David for composer Kevin Krumenauer in 2007.
Maslanka Weekly: Best of the Web – No. 59, Music For David
Maslanka Weekly highlights excellent performances of David Maslanka’s music from around the web. This week, we feature three works by composers who have dedicated music to David and his memory: "After Maslanka" from Tribute Trio by Russell Peterson, Funeral Song for David Maslanka by Andrew Bockman, and Montis - Tribute to David Maslanka by Elliott Sorenson.
Maslanka Weekly: Best of the Web – No. 35, David Maslanka – The Composition Teacher
Maslanka Weekly highlights excellent performances of David Maslanka’s music from around the web. This week, we take a look at three of the many pupils David worked with over the years as well as one of their compositions: Symphony No. 3, "For David" by Kimberly K. Archer, This is Our Joyful Hour by Kevin Krumenauer, and Heroes from the Sea by Onsby C. Rose.
Maslanka Weekly: Best of the Web – No. 30, David’s Wisdom
Maslanka Weekly highlights excellent performances of David Maslanka’s music from around the web. This week, we take a special look at David's philosophies on music, the creative process, and creating peace through musical tones.
Maslanka Weekly: Best of the Web – No. 29, Remembering David
Maslanka Weekly highlights excellent performances of David Maslanka’s music from around the web. We start the beginning of 2019 by taking time to remember the life and music of David Maslanka.
8 Questions for David Maslanka
The following is from an email exchange with Natasha Rotondaro, a grade 12 student from Emily Carr Secondary School in Vaughn, Ontario Natasha Rotondaro: What is your musical background? David Maslanka: I began clarinet studies [...]
Thoughts on Composing
Excerpts from letters to young composers You ask about the soul nature of music, and are music and soul the same thing. Music is one of the expressions of soul. A person does not have [...]
Interview with Russell Peterson
Russell Peterson, professor of saxophone at Lawrence University in Appleton WI, interviewed David Maslanka on 30 November 1998 after premieres of Mountain Roads for saxophone quartet, commissioned and performed by the Transcontinental Saxophone Quartet and [...]
Composing and its relationship to the community
I want to talk a bit about the composing process and its relationship to community. I have recently been reading Gerard Manley Hopkins, the great nineteenth-century English poet. Hopkins speaks of the “particularity” of each [...]
