Manhattan Beach Music

Composer: Frank Ticheli
Format: Score and Parts
Instrumentation: Concert Band
Level: 3

While composing Sun Dance, I was consciously attempting to evoke a feeling: bright joy. After completing the work, I found that the music began to suggest a more concrete image -- a town festival on a warm, sunwashed day. I imagined townspeople gathered in the park, some in small groups, some walking hand in hand, others dancing to the music played by a small band under a red gazebo. Throughout the composition process, I carefully balanced the song-like and dance-like components of "bright joy". The oboe's gentle statement of the main melody established the work's song-like characteristics, while the work's middle section, a lyrical theme of even greater passion appears. Several recurring themes are indeed more vocal than instrumental in nature. - Frank Ticheli

(Sound Sample - Performance by Todd Fiegel conducting the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire Wind Ensemble)