THE GREAT RIVER RAPID CHASE

(2018/rev. 2023)

ORDERING (TUX People's Music)

PUBLISHER: TUX People’s Music, LLC | ca. 3-4 minutes | GRADE 2.5/MEDIUM
© 2023 TUX People’s Music, LLC

Josh Trentadue · The Great River Rapid Chase (2018) - Grand Ledge High School Wind Symphony

PERUSAL SCORE

INSTRUMENTATION

WOODWINDS: 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, Bassoon (optional), 2 Bb Clarinets, Bb Bass Clarinet
SAXOPHONES: 2 Altos, Tenor, Bari
BRASS: 3 Bb Trumpets, 2 Horns, 2 Trombones, Euphonium (T.C. and B.C. parts available), Tubas (2+ players)
PERCUSSION: Timpani, 2 Mallet Percussion, 4 Percussion [7-8 players in total are recommended]

PERCUSSION LIST

Xylophone, Glockenspiel, Marimba, Chimes, Snare Drum, Bass Drum, Crash Cymbals, Suspended Cymbal, Hi-Hat, 2 Bongos, 4 Tom-Toms

STATE LISTS

MICHIGAN: MSBOA Basic Music List, High School Class C

THE FIRST PIECE OF THE MICHIGAN TRIPTYCH

COMMISSIONED BY: a consortium of wind ensembles led by Caleb Hammer as part of a consortium for three new works for concert band,
featuring music by Caleb Hammer, Josh Trentadue, and Harrison J. Collins

WORLD PREMIERE: November 1, 2018 | United Township High School Concert Band (Michael Wawrzynski, director) | United Township High School, East Moline, Illinois

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES

April 12, 2019 | Elkhart Central High School Symphonic Band (David Elliott, conductor) | ISSMA Concert Band Festival (2019), Elkhart Memorial High School, Elkhart, Indiana

May 8, 2019 | Grand Ledge High School Wind Symphony (John Szczerowski, conductor) | Grand Ledge High School, Grand Ledge, Michigan

CONSORTIUM MEMBERS

ADDITIONAL VERSIONS AVAILABLE

ADAPTABLE/FLEX ENSEMBLE

SCORE FOLLOWER

The Great River Rapid Chase initially came about for two different reasons. After growing up and living in my home state of Michigan, I moved to New York City to pursue graduate-level academics. Although I can't deny the incredible experiences I was so grateful to have while living in the city (and I wouldn't change that for anything), I also can't deny that, every now and again, I felt a bit homesick for the incredible landscapes and sights that Michigan has to offer. Writing this piece was an opportunity for me to get back in touch with that part of nature that I've loved for so long now.

This piece was also an opportunity for me to exercise another goal: composing high-quality music for middle and/or high school bands that could equally be fun to listen to as well as perform. I sought to challenge the players, but not so much as to make the music difficult for all the wrong reasons. This led to further challenges of creating authentic contrasting shapes and new colors within a standardized form that, overall, I had a lot of fun exploring.

The Great River Rapid Chase is a short, fast-paced adventure relying on rhythmic grooves and a sense of determination to arrive towards a final destination. Think of fish swimming upstream in a raging river - sometimes with the currents, sometimes against them - facing all sorts of predators and other dangers during their journey.

This revised edition better reflects my compositional intent and re-distributes all percussion parts to one player per part (with the exception of snare and bass drum, which have remained consolidated to a single part). Thank you to all of the consortium members for their generous support of this piece over the years, as well as Caleb Hammer’s Walking Through The Night and Harrison J. Collins’s O rose of May.