Gary Nash

Gary Nash

Composer, Educator, Arranger, Clarinetist

Sheet Music

Nittany Prelude

SM-000185272
ComposerGary Nash
PublisherGary Nash
Genre Classical / Chamber music
Instrumentation Euphonium, Tuba
Scored forOctet
Type of scoreFull score, Parts
Key A flat major
Duration 6'30"
Difficulty Advanced
Year of composition 2010
Description
In mid-January, 2010, Penn St. Univ. Tuba and Euphonium Prof. Velvet Brown contacted me via e-mail saying that her graduate brass quintet Nittany Brass is programming my composition Romantic Prelude and Processional (2003) for a performance for their Celebration of African-American Music Festival on Thursday, February 25. In that same e-mail, she told me her tuba-euphonium ensemble was invited to perform at ITEAC at Univ. of AZ and was interested in possibly programming a new tuba-euphonium ensemble work of mine there. She told me that she really liked my band/wind ensemble composition A Fraternal Prelude (1997) and asked if I could either transcribe it for tuba-euphonium ensemble or compose a new work similar to Fraternal Prelude. I chose the latter and thus began the conception of Nittany Prelude.

A Fraternal Prelude (1997) for band/wind ensemble was commissioned by the Morgan State University Band, Melvin N. Miles, conductor. A Fraternal Prelude is based on and inspired by the Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity Hymn, which was introduced to the fraternity by the Kappa Kappa Psi, Eta Gamma Chapter in 1995. The hymn itself is gospel-like in nature and I used the saxophone section for this initial presentation. The remainder of this composition stems from the opening section. The melodies change mode, lengthen in augmentation and engage in call-and-response dialogue between woodwind and brass sections.

Nittany Prelude utilizes the same formal structure and similar musical events as Fraternal Prelude, especially in regards to harmonies and harmonic progressions. Most of the harmonies are jazz/pop-like, consisting of extended tertian harmonies of 9th, 11th and 13th chords and the final chord being a 15th chord. Whereas Fraternal Prelude is based on and inspired by a hymn tune, Nittany Prelude is largely derived from and inspired by the song Heaven Help Us All by Stevie Wonder. I chose that song not only because of my admiration for Stevie Wonder’s music but also because the horrific earthquake that devastated Haiti took place around the same time Velvet Brown and I had conversations about me composing Nittany Prelude. As I was driving home from work and listening to the radio, the DJ played the song Heaven Help Us All in dedication to the surviving victims of the tragedy. Whereas Nittany Prelude was not composed in dedication to the earthquake in Haiti, the event still played a role in the creative process.

Upload date 04 Jun 2013

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