...and the mountains rising nowhere

For wind ensemble
Year
1977
Duration
11'
Instrumentation
6(1.-4.dbls.pic).4(3.4.dbls.ca).2.4-4.4.4.1-timp(4).5perc(I. vib, bell tree, timb, 3 tom-t, 2 sus cym, tam-t; II. mar, glsp, water gong, b.d, 2 sus cym, 2 tri; III. vib, xyl, 4 tom-t, b.d, 2 sus cym, 2 tri; IV. glsp, tub bells, water gong, 2 sus cym, 2 tri; V. xyl, crot, b.d, tam-t, 4 tom-t, 2 sus cym)-amp pno-db
Dedication
Respectfully dedicated to Carol Adler, Donald Hunsberger, and the fine performers of the Eastman Wind Ensemble.
Commission
commissioned by the Eastman Wind Ensemble with a grant from the NEA
Premiere
CBDNA national conference in College Park, Maryland, March 10, 1977
Catalog Number
EA 375FS Full Score,EA 375SET Parts
ISMN
979-0-60002-134-5
  • Program Notes

    "... And The Mountains Rising Nowhere" (1977) was written especially for Donald Hunsberger and the Eastman Wind Ensemble with the aid of a Composer Fellowship Grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts. The work is scored for amplified piano, six percussionists, winds and brass, and seven glass crystals (the glass harmonica played by the oboists). It is the latest in a series of works which incorporate the glass crystals into the sonic tapestry of the ensemble. The title of the work is a line from a poem written by my friend, poet, and writer—Carol Adler. The following poem is contained in a collection of poems entitled Arioso:

    sepia
    moonbeams
    an afternoon sun blanked by rain
    and the mountains rising nowhere
    the sound returns
    the sound and the silence chimes

    While the work is not specifically programmatic, the poem nevertheless acted as the creative impetus for the composition and provided, for me, an enigmatic, complex, and powerful imagery creating a wellspring of musical ideas and feelings in sympathetic resonance with the poem.

    The instrumentalists of the wind ensemble, besides playing in a traditional manner, are also required to sing ("celestial choir"), whistle, play glass crystals, water- gongs, bow antique cymbals, vibraphones, and tam-tams, among other instruments and techniques that are employed. The percussion choir, with its wide diversity of instrumental and sonorous possibilities, plays a fundamentally important role in projecting, along with the amplified piano, musical materials in the work. The recognition of that role is emphasized by their foreground placement in the ensemble.

    "... And The Mountains Rising Nowhere" is respectfully dedicated to Carol Adler, Donald Hunsberger, and the fine performers of the Eastman Wind Ensemble.

    —Joseph Schwantner

Video

...And the Mountains Rising Nowhere By Joseph Schwantner
U.S. Marine Band and Joseph Schwantner
UMich Symphony Band - Joseph Schwantner - ...and the mountains rising nowhere (1977)
SCHWANTNER and the mountains rising nowhere - "The President's Own" U.S. Marine Band