An Emily Dickinson Suite

   1: This Is My Letter To The World
2: To Hear An Oriole Sing
3: I'm Nobody
4: The Little Stone
5: If I Can Stop One Heart From Breaking
6: A Narrow Fellow In The Grass
7: A Day! Help! Help! Another Day!
8: Hope Is The Thing With Feathers
9: This Is My Letter To The World 

 
          The score (enclosed) contains the full texts of the poems and the foreword touches on the process I used to compose these ‘songs without words’. Here are the slides that are projected during performances.

          Throughout the composition process I was in contact with Brian Messier with the aim of producing a work that would fit the abilities of his performers. I met with the band in the early stage of the process and again travelled to Amherst to share in the final week of rehearsals – a rewarding experience.

           An Emily Dickinson Suite certainly challenged this band. However under their director's inspired leadership, and perhaps inspired in turn by a feeling of ownership of the piece, they turned in a premiere that clearly exceeded their own (and my) expectations. The performance earned a prolonged standing ovation from the capacity audience in Amherst College auditorium.

Christopher Marshall
Orlando, Florida, 2009

Instrumentation: Wind Ensemble (or Symphonic Band)

1 Picc. 3 Fl. 2 Ob. 4 BbCl. 1 Bass Cl. 2 Alt.Sax. 1 Ten.Sax. 1 Bar.Sax. 1 Bsn. // 2 FHn. 3 BbTpt. 2 Tbn. 1 Euph. 1 Tba. //
1 Str.Bass 1 Timp. 3 Perc.



Recordings: The premiere performance by the Amherst Regional High School Wind Ensemble under Brian Messier, Amherst MA, June 1, 2009.



The second performance by the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Wind Ensemble under Jack Stamp, November 15 2009.

Duration: ±18"

Difficulty: Grade 5