JAMES M. DAVID, composer
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With Soul Serene
2018-19 Consortium Commission for Wind Symphony

New Grade 4 Work for Wind Symphony

I am excited to announce my newest symphonic work for winds which will be available in Winter 2019-20!  This piece was premiered by the Georgia Music Educators Association All-State Concert Band in March 2019.  The
composition is largely lyrical in nature and concludes with an energetic and dramatic finale.

UPDATE: "With Soul Serene" wins the 2018 National Band Association Merrill Jones Composition Contest!
​

Recording and Perusal Score

Link to Perusal Score (opens new window)

Program Notes

"With Soul Serene" is my third work written specifically for younger musicians and was inspired by a poem composed by an American Civil War soldier in 1864. John Worrell Northrop fought for the Union and was captured and sent to Andersonville Prison, about one hundred miles from my hometown. Andersonville was a notoriously cruel and miserable place, but Northrop’s poem reflects a man who remained optimistic in the face of adversity:

I’ve struggled hard for victory,
In pride, although in pain,
With soul serene and spirit free,
And so I must again.
​

My piece attempts to capture the indomitable spirit of Northrop’s words, while reflecting on the harsh and conflicted past of the Southern United States. Howard Hanson’s Chorale and Alleluia served as a guide for the form of this piece and the “alleluia” motive is quoted liberally in the second half of my work. Ultimately, I hope my composition leaves listeners with a sense of optimism for the future, despite the many tensions that pester our present day. 

Commission Consortium Membership

Lee Newman, Norcross High School (lead commissioner)
Brett Bawcum, University of Georgia
Josh Byrd, University of West Georgia
Ashley Floyd, Elbert County High School
Laura Stanley, Brookwood High School
Nathan Groves, Duluth High School
William Owens, Mountain View High School
Blake Unger, Peachtree Ridge High School

Read More About the Composer

Previous Works for Wind Symphony

  • Home
  • news
  • about
  • wind ensemble
    • Lost Illusions
    • Flexible Instrumentation
    • March Tumbao
    • Lookfar
    • Menlo Park, 1879
    • Symphony no. 1
    • Zephyrus
    • iowa Consortium
    • With Soul Serene
    • Swing Landscape
    • I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold
    • Ghosts of the Old Year
    • Concerto for Vibraphone
    • The Moorlands
    • Big Four on the River
    • All Dark Is Now No More
    • Temple's Grace
    • From the Shaken Tower
    • Two-Lane Blacktop
    • Sinfonietta no. 3
  • compositions
    • wind ensemble
    • clarinet >
      • all clarinet works
      • clarinet sonata
      • AUTO '66 - Clarinet Concerto
    • saxophone >
      • all saxophone works
      • Saxophone Sonata
      • L'oiseau dans l'espace
      • Saxophone/Percussion Double Quartet
    • trombone >
      • Trombone Sonata
      • Song of the Valar
      • Bass Trombone Sonata
      • Partiels 2
      • Garden of the Gods
    • Other Brass Works >
      • Trumpet Sonata
    • Percussion >
      • The Dandelion
      • NOLA - BELA - SOWEGA
    • large ensemble >
      • LASCAUX
      • KAFKA - Sax Concerto
    • chamber ensemble >
      • Clarinet and Horn Trio
    • solo / electroacoustic
    • choral / vocal >
      • KUBLA KHAN
  • contact