Erin Lilliefors

Sun Dancer Fanfare by Erin Lilliefors

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Overview:

Key signature: Concert Eb Major Length: 3 minutes

Time signature: 2/4, 5/4 Style: Rhythmic Fanfare

Tempo: Quarter note = 88, 168+ Dynamic range: p - ff

Grade level: 2 Scoring: 6 part Flex

Instrumentation:

Parts 1: Flute, Oboe, Clarinet 1 (above the break), Mallets

Part 2: Oboe, Clarinet 2 (below the break)

Part 3: Clarinet 3 (below the break), Alto Saxophone 1, Trumpet 2

Part 4: Trumpet 1, Alto Saxophone 2, Horn 1

Part 5: Trumpet 3, Horn 2, Tenor Saxophone, Bassoon, Trombone, Euphonium

Part 6: Bass Clarinet, Baritone Saxophone, Tuba

Found Percussion: Bright (or Snare Drum), Hollow (or 2 Toms or Tom and Bass),

Metallic High (or Tambourine or Triangle), Metallic Low (or Suspended or Crash Cymbal)

**The priority for assigning trumpet parts is Part 4, Part 3, and then Part 5.**

Special Considerations:

Sun Dancer Fanfare is especially appropriate for our current circumstances because it features "found" percussion. Erin Lilliefors explains in the performance notes, "'Found percussion' is the idea that students can use whatever they want as a percussion instrument as long as it fits the timbre of the line. These are the timbres that will enrich the melody: Piercing, Hollow, Metallic (high and low). On the score, it lists the suggested corresponding percussion instrument if this were done in a traditional setting; however, giving percussionists a little bit of creative liberty is a great opportunity. There are no limits to the imagination. Anything goes." There are examples in the score of "found" percussion items that would work for each timbre.

Rehearsal Suggestions

Musical Expression:

Because Sun Dancer Fanfare is based on the idea of "found percussion", encourage all musicians to contribute ideas for "piercing", "hollow", and (high and low) "metallic" sounds. Given the flexible instrumentation of the piece, there might be opportunities to allow wind players to take turns playing with the percussion section. Give ensemble members time to reflect on what story they want to tell or what emotions they want to share through this piece. Then experiment with different percussion sounds and

encourage musicians to realize how the "found" percussion instruments contribute to the character of the composition.

Tonality/Intonation:

Sun Dancer Fanfare is in the key of concert Eb major, but it also challenges musicians through the use of intervals such as major seconds, minor thirds, perfect fourths and perfect fifths.

Given the fast tempo throughout the majority of the piece, musicians must be able to adjust their intonation almost instantaneously throughout the piece. In order to achieve proper intonation on chords within the piece, ensemble members must know how to listen and tune.

Edward Lisk has studied the science of sound for decades. In almost all of his books, including The Creative Director: Conductor, Teacher, Leader, he provides a thorough explanation of the hows and whys of the tuning process. It is best to set a pitch from either a drone or a tuba (or lowest instrument in the band). A drone is advantageous, if possible, especially for a young band because it provides a consistent pitch. Using the Yamaha Harmony Director HD 200 keyboard is helpful for hearing chords in just intonation and tuning them accordingly.

Concert F is the best pitch for tuning all wind instruments because of the overtone series and where it lies on the instruments. The exception is Eb alto and baritone saxophones, but the benefits of F in all the other instruments outweigh this. After the winds have tuned to F, the drone or tuba should switch to Bb and all winds should join the Eb saxophones in

tuning that note. Start by tuning principal players. After the principal euphonium is in tune with the tuba, they should continue to play and then the principal trombone player should join in. The process repeats through score order (ascending). After section leaders are in tune, everyone else tunes by listening to their section leader. Only one person in each section (who has not yet tuned) should tune with the section leader at a time, so each musician can clearly hear themselves and identify if there are beats in the sound. Musicians do not need to worry about if they are flat or sharp. They only need to listen for beats in the sound. Tell players if they are pinching their embouchure to slow down beats, they are flat and if they are relaxing their embouchure to slow down beats, they are sharp. After that, they can adjust their instrument by moving the slide/mouthpiece/barrel in or out or

adjusting the reed. Next, they need to identify if the beats got slower or faster. Faster beats means to go the opposite direction on the instrument and slower beats means to continue in the same direction until the beats have been eliminated. When musicians are perfectly in tune, their sound is indistinguishable from the sound of their section leader. They should keep playing as the rest of the section tunes. In addition to blending within the section, each section needs to balance within the ensemble. In general, this means musicians should listen down to the tuba or lowest instrument in the ensemble or the instrument playing the lowest part.

After musicians have completed the tuning process, they can play unison pitches around the Circle of 4ths from Edward Lisk's Alternative Rehearsal Techniques - Creative Director Series. As they get more comfortable with listening and playing in tune on unison pitches,

add perfect fifths. Eventually, musicians can learn to play chords around the Circle.

Measures 26-29 are an example of shifting intervals.

Musicians who are playing the note with one pitch need to listen and adjust intonation as the other part changes pitches. This can be practiced with the Circle of 4ths. Divide the ensemble in two groups. Have one half stay on a unison pitch (such as concert F), while the other group of musicians plays the descending line (Eb, D, C, Bb). After repeating that process around the Circle of 4ths, have musicians switch who is on the unison note and who is on the moving line. Throughout this process, ensemble members will be able to practice listening and adjusting intonation.

Pulse/Rhythm:

The majority of Sun Dancer Fanfare requires musicians to play at least 168 beats per minute. Ensemble members need to have a strong internal pulse, otherwise the tempo will slow down and the piece will lose energy.

To develop ensemble pulse with my students, I introduce it as a game, based on Edward Lisk's internal pulse exercise (described in The Creative Director: Conductor, Teacher, Leader). To lead the game, hold your hands out with the palms up and count

aloud 1-8 (at a tempo of approximately 60 beats per minute). Next, the musicians should count with you. Everyone should be counting with a crisp tone of voice and be focused on listening to the space between the beats. Players need to keep their bodies from moving during this time. The focus is on internal pulse, not on external elements like foot tapping, head bobbing, etc. After the pulse has been established, turn your hands, so your palms are facing down. When your palms are down, you and the ensemble members should switch to silently counting. During silent counting, everyone should keep their lips sealed, so no one is mouthing the numbers to themselves. Remind musicians of the internalization process or "thinking in your brain". Initially, only indicate one or two beats of silence at a time. As the musicians improve their internal pulse, keep your palms down for more beats. It is a fun challenge for musicians to see how long they can count silently and still come in on the correct number and with their voices exactly together. Also, experiment with different tempos, including the performance tempo of (at least) 168 beats per minute.

After the musicians have performed the pulse exercise correctly, have them transfer it to playing around the Circle of 4ths. Start by having them play in unison on concert F on the Circle of 4ths for pulse 5. Ensemble members should be counting to five (internally) while they are playing for four beats, releasing on beat five, and then breathing and entering with the new pitch on the next beat. After they have played concert F, they should play concert Bb, then concert Eb, etc. At first, you can conduct a "one" pattern and indicate the entrances and releases. When the ensemble is secure in the internal pulse, stop conducting and let the musicians continue to play pulse 5 around the Circle. It is important to stop the ensemble when precision in entrances and releases is lost. Remind musicians to breathe together and play together. Whenever the entrances or releases lose precision, name a new pulse (for example, pulse 4) and begin on a different note in the Circle (concert C, for example). With practice, the internal pulse of the ensemble and precision of entrances and releases will improve. As this occurs, indicate pulses between 3 and 7 (or longer). Rests should also be added. For example, pulse 5 rest 3 would be "play, two, three, four, release two, three, breathe" and would be notated as a whole note followed by a whole rest.

Sun Dancer Fanfare relies on rhythmic ostinatos to keep the energy of the piece

moving forward. Make sure ensemble members know how to read, count, and clap the first ostinato rhythm (as seen in measures 23-24).

Next, have them think and play the rhythm on a unison pitch (starting on concert F) around the Circle of 4ths. After they can do that correctly, put the rhythm back into the context of the music, as written. Because the rhythm in measure 23 repeats many times in a row, remind musicians to breathe quickly anytime they need to breathe during the eighth rest. If they take too long to breathe, the tempo will slow down.

A new melody is created from an additional ostinato, which is introduced through a solo in measures 34-37 and is seen here in part 2 of measures 38-41.

Repeat the process of reading/counting/clapping/playing on one pitch and then playing in the music whenever a new ostinato is introduced.

Sometimes several ostinatos happen at the same time and musicians need to know how their parts fit together (parts 2-6 in measures 61-62, for example).

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First, choose two (out of the four) different rhythms (each rhythmic example is two measures long) and divide the ensemble into two parts. Have one group play one rhythm on a unison pitch, while the other group plays the second rhythm in unison, perhaps a perfect fifth away. After the rhythms have been played, the ensemble can rest for one measure and then play the rhythm again on the next pitch of the Circle of 4ths. Next, exchange parts so musicians are playing a different rhythm from the first time they played. Repeat this process with the third and fourth rhythms. After they have used the Circle of 4ths to play all four rhythms in isolation and as part of the whole, then they can play their assigned part within the context of the written music.

Dynamics:

Sun Dancer Fanfare has dynamics from piano to fortissimo. I define dynamic levels using one hand to indicate a dynamic level pianissimo through fortissimo, where zero is pianissimo and five is fortissimo. Have musicians play around the Circle of 4ths and cue each note at a different dynamic level. Encourage everyone to only play as loudly or softly as they can play with good balance, blend, intonation, and tone quality.

There are a few crescendos and decrescendos in the piece of different lengths. Edward Lisk explains in his Creative Director Series books that musicians should count aloud the number of beats the crescendo or decrescendo lasts.

In measures 21-24, parts 4 and 6 have a sixteen beat crescendo, while parts 3 and 5 have an 11 beat crescendo and parts 1 and 2 have a six beat crescendo.

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In this case, musicians on parts 4 and 6 should count with their voices, and gradually increase the volume from piano at count "one" to forte at count "sixteen". Parts 3 and 5 should join in the counting starting at "six" and ending at "sixteen". They should match their entrance volume with whatever they hear from parts 4 and 6 at the time. The same process applies when parts 1 and 2 enter for counts "eleven" through "sixteen". After they speak at the correct volume, musicians should repeat this process with thinking and playing.

The process is the same for decrescendos, except the voice starts louder and gets softer, while counting backwards. Decrescendos are usually more challenging to do evenly at first, so continue to draw attention to making sure the voice is correct and then apply it on the instrument. With time, players will be able to play crescendos and decrescendos of various lengths.

Percussionists should follow the same process as everyone else, but they need to realize that sometimes they have dynamic changes which are not accompanied by the winds (as seen in measures 25-26).

In the example above, percussionists should count "6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1" and quickly decrease their volume from fortissimo to piano. Remind players they should never be whispering or shouting because that does not represent good tone quality on the instrument. After they are able to do this with their voices, they should play their instrument, while thinking the same volume with the voice in their head. Be patient with musicians as they practice how to pace a crescendo for six or eleven or sixteen beats.

In measures 41-42, there is an example of a very quick crescendo.

In this case, have musicians subdivide the sixteenth notes as they count the crescendo from mezzo forte to forte and say "5e+a 6".

Articulation/Style/Phrasing:

Erin Lilliefors uses accents, marcatos, and slurs to bring energy and direction to the piece. Measures 38-41 are an example of how accents are applied in this piece.

In this case, the accents are bringing attention to all of the longer notes, as well as the high and low notes of the phrase. This fits perfectly with the three natural laws of musical expression, which Edward Lisk outlines in many of his books, including The Creative Director: Conductor, Teacher, Leader. If ensemble members remember that short notes look for long notes, low notes search for high notes, and high notes search for low notes, they will not have trouble shaping phrases in almost any piece.

Measures 46 and 48 are an example of how marcatos are used in this piece.

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Different people have different opinions about how marcatos should be interpreted, so I checked with the composer and in this case they should be "short and punchy." They are providing emphasis each time the ostinatos pause for two beats, which interrupts the flow of the piece.

Encourage musicians to consider several factors, such as dynamics, articulations, and texture (including percussion) to decide how the piece should be shaped on a macro level.

Trills:

Parts 1 and 2 begin the fanfare with trills in measures 1-7 and 10-17.

The example above instantly lets the listener know that something important is going to happen. Musicians will need to stagger breathe throughout the opening of the piece to ensure a smooth, even trill. Encourage players on parts 1 and 2 to listen to the moving lines in other parts and adjust their volume accordingly.

Because of the flexible instrumentation in the piece, the trill fingerings for these notes will depend on what instrument is playing them. Make sure woodwind players have access to fingering charts that include trill fingerings, such as The Woodwind Fingering Guide website.