JAMES M. DAVID, composer
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Heartland Verses

Heartland Verses
​for wind symphony

Grade 4 - $125 - duration: ca. 11 minutes
Purchase Score and Parts through Murphy Music Press or J. W. Pepper

View Perusal Score (opens new window)


Program Notes

Heartland Verses is a two-movement composition based on the works of lowa native and U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser. The first movement, "Flow, blue" is based on a short poem that describes the patterns of the China plates owned by the author's aunt. The raspy sound of shakers and maracas interact with a simple tune to portray the old woman who is both weathered and sweetened by her many years. In "the dust of his wings," a species of moth is cited that will drink from the tears of sleeping animals. Kooser's beautiful poem describes the sleeper and the insect as conversing through dreams and awakening renewed at the dawn. A nervous and darting motive is accompanied by the fluttering of wings (snare drum with brushes) as the melody from the first movement is transformed into a bright and optimistic conclusion. This work was commissioned by ten university and high school band programs from the state of lowa led by Myron Peterson, past president of the lowa Bandmasters Association. This work is dedicated to my high school English teacher Mrs. Fischer who knew that I loved poetry almost as much as music.
- notes by the composer, Summer 2019

Errata - 11/26/19
​Movement I. "Flow, blue"
mm. 1-14 - Flutes: one player per part
m. 27-Euphonium: first note (E-flat) change to dotted half, second note (F) change to half
m. 90 - Tenor Sax change to C#
m. 90 - Bassoon, Bass Clarinet, Euphonium, Tuba: add accents to eighth notes
m. 95 - Bassoon, Bass Clarinet, Euphonium, Tuba: add accents to eighth notes
mm. 119-120 - Flutes play down 8va (C5)
  • Home
  • about
  • wind ensemble
    • Message from Arecibo
    • Flying Jewels
    • Urban Light
    • Troublesome Fire
    • Symphony no. 1
    • Ghosts of the Old Year
    • Call to Commitment
    • With Soul Serene
    • March Tumbao
    • Lookfar
    • Menlo Park, 1879
    • Zephyrus
    • Flexible Instrumentation
    • Heartland Verses
    • Swing Landscape
    • I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold
    • 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 >
      • all trombone works
      • Trombone Sonata
      • Five American Dances
      • Song of the Valar
      • Bass Trombone Sonata
      • Partiels 2
      • Garden of the Gods
    • Other Brass Works >
      • Of Unsurpassed Heroes
      • Trumpet Sonata
    • Percussion >
      • The Dandelion
      • NOLA - BELA - SOWEGA
    • large ensemble >
      • Tin Lizzies on Old Fall River
      • LASCAUX
      • KAFKA - Sax Concerto
    • chamber ensemble >
      • Clarinet and Horn Trio
    • solo / electroacoustic
    • choral / vocal >
      • KUBLA KHAN
  • contact
  • Report Performance