Opus 100
Eclipse (1994)
for Band
Duration: 11 min.
Dedication: to Peter Schmalz and the Oshkosh West High School Wind Ensemble
Premiere: 1995; Oshkosh West HS Band; P. Schmalz
Performance materials available from the publisher.
Eclipse was commissioned by the Oshkosh West High School Wind Ensemble, through a grant from the Meet the Composer Educational Program.
In the work, I have tried to describe the actual events of a total solar eclipse in colorist and programmatic design. Listeners may try to follow the astronomical progress, or may listen in a more general impressionistic or emotional way, at individual pleasure.
Although the music uses a free, if conservative, chromatic style, and makes fairly heavy emotional demands, I have tried to tailor the score for high school ensembles by avoiding complex rhythms, extreme ranges, and difficult passage-work for the most part. (Notes by Arnold Rosner)