JAMES M. DAVID, composer
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Menlo Park, 1879

Menlo Park, 1879
​for wind band with flexible instrumentation


Purchase score and parts through Murphy Music Press
$70 - 7 minutes
​
Perusal Score (opens new window)


Program Notes

​On the evening of December 31, 1879, Thomas Edison unveiled the first practical electric light bulb to the public at his laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey. A train was commissioned to bring the New York press and others from the city to Edison’s tiny outpost. Upon arriving, the passengers walked up a small snow-covered hill that was lit by twenty electric lampposts leading to his laboratory filled with the warm glow of incandescent bulbs. My piece is a tone poem inspired by this special moment in history. The work opens with the gloomy night train, slowly bringing up speed and chattering with the passengers’ anticipation for what is to come. This is followed by a lyrical adagio based on a sarabande progression that represents the ascent to the illuminated building on the hilltop. The work concludes with the return journey that describes the excitement and hope for a new electrical age. Ultimately, I hope that this composition will inspire listeners to remember that even in the darkest of times we can always look towards the future.
 
-Notes by the composer, June 2020, Fort Collins, Colorado

Instrumentation

​Six wind parts may be played with any number of instruments as described below:
 
Part 1: Piccolo (optional), Flute, B-flat Clarinet
 
Part 2: Flute/Oboe, B-flat Clarinet, Alto Saxophone
 
Part 3: B-flat Clarinet, B-flat Trumpet, Alto Saxophone, F Horn
 
Part 4: B-flat Clarinet, B-flat Trumpet, Alto Saxophone, F Horn
 
Part 5: Tenor Saxophone, F Horn, Trombone/Euphonium/Bassoon
 
Part 6: Bass Clarinet, Baritone Saxophone, Trombone/Euphonium/Bassoon, Tuba
 
Piano (optional)
 
Percussion
  • 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