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Pricing
Printed Score Only: $60
Printed Score + Printed Parts: $279.99
Printed Score + Digital PDF Parts: $279.99
Details
Grade 5 – Symphony Orchestra
Year of Composition: 2026
Length: 6:15
Instrumentation
Flute 1, 2
Flute 3 (doubling piccolo)
Oboe 1, 2
Clarinet in Bb 1, 2
Bass Clarinet in Bb
Bassoon 1, 2
Optional. Alto Sax 1, 2
Optional Tenor Sax
Optional Baritone Sax
Horn in F 1, 2, 3, 4
Bb Trumpet 1, 2, 3
Trombone 1, 2
Bass Trombone
Tuba
Timpani
**Percussion 1: Bass Drum, Marimba, Triangle
Percussion 2: Bongos (1), Snare Drum, Suspended Cymbal, Low Conga Drum
Percussion 3: Low Tom-Toms (2), Bell Tree, Tam-Tam, Whistle, Suspended Cymbal
Percussion 4: Crotales, Suspended Cymbal, Tambourine, Triangle, Chimes
Strings
**It is possible to perform the piece with timpani plus three percussionists. If the personnel available requires this, the percussionists should play the timpani and percussion 2, 3, and 4 parts. Important percussion 1 marimba moments are cued in percussion 3, and bass drum moments are cued in percussion 4. However, it is highly preferable to perform the piece with the full complement of percussion (timpani +4) as written.
Program Note
When I was playing saxophone in my middle school jazz band, we started every rehearsal the same way – with an improvisation exercise that our director created. It was a simple yet brilliant exercise for teaching beginning improvisation and allowing everyone in the band a chance to “solo.” As a warm-up at the opening of each rehearsal, the whole band played the blues scale ascending, resting for one measure, descending, and resting for another measure (see example below).
During the measures of rest, each member of the band took turns improvising a solo. Looking back, this exercise not only got the band swinging together from the start of rehearsal, but it made improvisation, a daunting musical task to many, seem within everyone’s abilities. This experience was my introduction to the blues scale, and I have long wanted to write a piece inspired by this group of pitches. In Magnolia Star, I explore various ways to use these pitches in harmonies, melodies, and timbres, creating a diverse set of ideas that will go beyond sounds that we typically associate with the blues scale. I didn’t want to create a “blues” piece, but rather a piece in my own musical voice that uses and pays homage to the blues scale. For the first half of the piece or so, nearly all the pitches fit into the concert C blues scale. It is interesting to note that embedded within the C blues scale are a C minor triad, a C diminished triad, an Eb minor triad, and an Eb major triad. I explore the alternation of these tonal areas right from the start of the piece, and continue to employ them in different ways throughout the entire work.
When I first started improvising ideas for this piece based around the blues scale, I began to hear the influence of driving rhythms and sonorities which reminded me of trains. The railroad became an important second influence of this piece alongside the blues scale.
The American railroad not only provides some intriguing sonic ideas, but it also provides an intimate connection to the growth of jazz and blues in America. In the late 19th century, the Illinois Central Railroad constructed rail lines that stretched from New Orleans all the way north to Chicago. Many southern musicians traveled north via the railroad, bringing “delta blues” and other idioms to northern parts of the country. The railroad was also the inspiration for countless blues songs by a wide variety of artists. Simply put, the railroad was crucial to the dissemination of jazz and blues in the early 20th century. Magnolia Star was an Illinois Central train that ran from New Orleans to Chicago in the mid 20th century.
Grade 5
Magnolia Star is a sparkling, energetic piece for wind band (Grade 5) based on the blues scale and inspired by the American railroad. Also available for symphony orchestra.