The Vibrance of Ordinary People (2010)
PURCHASE SCORE
The Vibrance of Ordinary People
Concert Band // 8:00
Premiere: November 4, 2010
Commissioned by the Keene State College Concert Band
Program Notes:
The Vibrance of Ordinary People was commissioned by the Keene State College Concert Band, shortly after Heather Gilligan joined its faculty as the coordinator of theory and composition. The work has an overall structure that might be diagrammed as ABABA. The A sections are slow, with large chords and dissonant harmonies which resolve in ways a listener might not expect. These slow sections have full, layered textures, which depict the lives of ordinary people going about their days. The B sections are faster, with a change of texture and mood that represent the times in which ordinary people break out of their routines and have special moments. In these sections, the ensemble highlights various duets and trios for a more contrapuntal and imitative textures. The piece ends as it began, with the slow A section, whereby the people return to their ordinary lives.