for wind ensemble - michael markowskielixir is dedicated to scott coulson, a man who has...

elixirelixirelixirelixirelixirMICHAEL MARKOWSKI

FOR wind Ensemble

SAMPLE SCORE - NOT FOR PERFORMANCE - NOT A PURCHASED COPY

elixirelixirelixirelixirelixirelixireelixirelixirelixirelixirelixirelixirelixirelixirelixirelixirelixirelixirelixirelixirelixirelixirelixirelixirelixirFOR wind Ensemble

M ICHAEL MARKOWSKI

~INSTRUMENTATION

Piccolo

Flute 1 & 2

Oboe

B Clarinet 1 - 4

B Bass Clarinet 1 & 2

B Contrabass Clarinet

Bassoon 1 & 2

B Soprano Saxophone

E Alto Saxophone 1 & 2

B Tenor Saxophone

E Baritone Saxophone

B Trumpets 1 - 4

F Horns 1 - 4

Trombone 1 - 3

Bass Trombone

Euphonium

Tuba

String Bass

Timpani

Percussion 1: crotales

Percussion 2: marimba, suspended cymbal

Percussion 3: shakers (“one shots” preferred)

Percussion 4: conga (extra players may double or triple this part)

Percussion 5: triangle, timbales, cowbell

Percussion 6: surdo, suspended trash cymbal

DURATION5:00

Copyright © 2012 Michael Markowski. All rights reserved.

WWW.MICHAELMARKOWSKI.COM


About Elixir

So many of us spend our entire lives working tirelessly at what we love to do, striving to become experts in

our field, passionately in search of something to be remembered for, something we can change the world

with, something that gives us purpose.

It’s a bold idea—the thought that a small part of us might, in some way, live forever—but it seems that the bold

idea itself has had an inexhaustible life of its own. Across the span of history, folklore has given mankind a way

to find this meaning, be it through a quest for the Holy Grail, the Fountain of Youth, or even the legendary

sword Excalibur. The mythology behind Elixir is a brother to these legends, probably most associated with Elixir

Vitae, or as it’s better known, the Elixir of Life. The Elixir is essentially a drink, a special potion with magical

properties said to extend a person’s life indefinitely, allowing him or her to become immortal, to be forever young.

By drinking the potion, man is enabled to overcome his inherent limitations and achieve the greatness that he has

always longed for.

Elixir is dedicated to Scott Coulson, a man who has passionately devoted his life to others through music. Above

all, the piece is a musical “toast”—a “cheers” to a continued journey and to a long, healthy life not only to Mr.

Coulson, but also to the students at Poteet High School, whose amazing journeys are just beginning.

Michael Markowski

May 13, 2012

Tempe, Arizona

World PremiereThe Poteet High School Honors Band, conducted by Scott Coulson, gave the world premiere performance of

Elixir on May 22, 2012 in Mesquite, Texas.

About the Composer

MICHAEL MARKOWSKI (b. 1986) is fully qualified to watch movies and cartoons. Although he holds a B.A.

in Film, his life is centered around music and his compositions are actively performed around the world. His work

can also be heard in short films like Conan: The Musical, which aired in a bit on NBC’s Late Night with Conan

O’Brien, in oddball techno/pop songs, one of which featured Canadian actor John Dunsworth from Trailer Park

Boys fame, in the independent stage musical From Gumm to Garland: Judy the Musical, which starred Disney

Legend Paige O’Hara, in short jingles, various muzak, and comedic songs for the Phoenix-based sketch comedy

troupe, Bully Mammoth, and also in the sci-fi comedic web series, Voyage Trekkers. Markowski is a member of

ASCAP and currently lives in Astoria, New York.

For more information, recordings, and other helpful resources, please visit www.michaelmarkowski.com.


Commissioned by

the Dr. Ralph H. Poteet High School Pirate Bandin honor of

Scott Coulson

and his dedication, diligence, and 24 years of service creating

“A Performance of Pride”as Poteet’s first Director of Bands.


Wha… What was that? Michael Markowski’s enervating composi-tion “Elixir” begins with a motive

of a single dotted eighth-sixteenth note duplet, followed by several beats of silence. And again. And then again (see Example 1). There is an insistence, persistence, about this dotted eighth-sixteenth note motive that becomes admirable, a rhythmic badge of courage and honor. Dooo-dot. Dooo-dot. The motive appears in one permutation

of the piece. The thirty-sixth measure escapes it only because the motive has become so pervasively

some of the kinetic motion it has built up. The piece begins with this very spare rhythmic content, and also a very thin orchestration of saxophone quartet, marimba, and shaker. Instrumentation in both the winds and percussion

rhythmic motive and its various accompaniments, especially in the percussion section. Not incidentally, there is some special instru-mentation that is absolutely essential to the piece. The soprano saxophone, in addition to the usual AATB saxophone section, is required. Markowski also calls for a surdo, a large bass drum of Brazilian origin. Surdos are available commercially; a quick internet search will reveal audio and video exam-ples of surdos being played, and even instructions

for how to build one yourself for highly motivated do-it-yourselfers. There are two bass clarinet parts; beyond that, the instrumentation is quite standard. From the beginning of the piece, the dotted eighth-sixteenth motive inspires a variety of accompanimental devices, all of which lead right back to yet another dotted eighth-sixteenth. At m.

the hard-edged motive into cascading triplets that

having escaped the jagged dotted eighth-sixteenth feel (see Example 2).

The original rhythmic motive returns in the winds at m. 19, and Elixirthanks to a slightly brutish trombone line at m. 22,

ostinato in m. 26 (initially introduced in m. 25 by a much thicker array of instruments) that

This all leads to the “B” section of the piece beginning at m. 28. This section, perhaps not surprisingly, is also based on the dotted eighth-sixteenth motive, but there is one monumental

to silence: it leads to massive sustained block chords,

“Instrumentation in both the winds and percussion are added

in bit by bit, like strands of

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Discovering ‘Elixir’An analysis by Marc R. Dickey, Ph.D.

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with parallel harmonic shifts and dueling Bb Major and Bb minor tonalities (see Example 3). Dooo-dot daaaahhhh. Dat Dooo-dot daaaahhhh. So satisfying after all of that Morse code in the A section! If you are not a horn player, you will wish you were: horns get to wail in several places throughout the score, always doubled in the alto

rambunctious and joyously massive as this section sounds, some self control is called for; note that Markowski has marked it merely forte. Measure 46 continues in a similar vein, but much lighter in texture, rhythmic complexity, and

return to… Dooo-dot. Dooo-dot. After so much activity, the silence after each statement of the original motive in its return is even more unexpected than at the beginning. This is even more true because as Markowski returns to the essence of the “A” section, he avoids exact repetition;

are not just unexpected; they are actually awkward and a bit uncomfortable. To make up for it, Markowski’s return of the “A” section is more compact, an economical 20 measures as opposed to the original 27. In the midst of it, the trombones rudely blare out a short in m. 60. The music of measures 66-67 is in essence repeated in measures 68-69, but the second time it continues into a series of dotted eighth-sixteenths, each followed by a quarter rest, that leads to a new section of music. The warm, shimmering woodwind soli

of music, the most passive moments in Elixir by far (see Example 4). The simple material in this “C” section is appropriated to the foreground from the backgrounds found in mm. 15, 18, 20, and 26-27. The dotted eighth-sixteenth returns ever so gently within the woodwind choir in mm. 77-78, and then more overtly in the brass pyramid in mm. 79-80.

and clarinet, accompanied by mysterious, even magical tremolos in the clarinets and marimba, and accompanied by dotted-eight sixteenths appearing on key downbeats, sounding as heartbeats urging us forward from the string bass, timpani, conga, and surdo. The shimmering woodwind soli moves to the saxophones in m. 92, now accompanying a 1ST trombone and trumpet soli that is purely menacing. The theme of calm returns to the woodwinds in m. 96, now accompanied by a triangle—signaling an alarm, or just a harmless decoration? In m. 99, the horns, tenor saxophone, and euphonium take over the placid theme, as the heartbeat returns—ominous or comforting (see Example 5)? The music builds quickly toward a return of the triumphant B theme, the dotted-eighth sixteenths that propel

26. As the B theme returns in m. 111, we become certain that the horns and alto saxophones are the protagonists in Elixir, and the trombones the menacing agitators. Note that now Markowski gives the brass permission to do what they wanted to back at m. 28; the parts at m. 111 are marked , even for the horns. The return of the B section

Trumpets

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contains much of the material from mm. 28-45, but heftier, reworked for greater intensity. But this

yielded to the tinkly transitory passage at m. 46; this

thick, ever lengthening tutti quarter note sonorities, as Markowski’s rallentando leads us to the loudest silence of Elixir, a great grand pause in m. 131. Get ready! At m. 132, Markowski marks his Coda twenty-eight beats per minute faster than the rest of the piece. Beginning with a sequence based on the B section motive, the screeching birds return for the last time in m. 136, and soon there is a tug-of-war between the relentless original dooo-dot motive and the perturbed birds. The squabble settles on a smeary, blurry saxophone and horn cluster in m. 143, with the added auditory chaos of saxophone tremoloing. In Elixir’sdooo-dot motive returns for two last massive swipes with a foreboding, antagonistic mix of Bb minor in the lower winds versus Bb Major in the upper ranges. This attempt by Bbis co-opted by a stark, brilliant Bb Major whole note orchestrated through the entire ensemble, followed of course by one last dooo-dot in Bb Major. The perseverance of the original motive is rewarded; goodness, courage, and honor prevail! Throughout the work, percussionists must be particularly aware of when they should be playing soloistically as opposed to when they are

accompanying the winds. The crotales, triangle, cowbell, and suspended cymbal that appear intermittently are extremely important to the piece, and should be assigned to competent, musical percussionists. The parts to Elixir are challenging, but not overwhelming. And they are inarguably fun to play! Elixir is a colorful, inspiring work containing two Markowski hallmarks: maximal contrast using the sparest of compositional materials, and rhythmic

belong on the same page, yet soon mingle like the ingredients of an exquisite paella. Dooo-dot! _________________________________________ DR. MARC R. DICKEY is Chair of the Music Department and oversees the instrumental music teacher program at California State University, Fullerton, where he has taught since 1988. He has conducted the CSU Fullerton Symphonic Winds for more than ten years. His research has been published in the Journal of Research in Music Education and the Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education. He has served as a member of a Music Subject Advisory Panel to the Commission of Teacher Credentialing of the State of California, and has adjudicated bands throughout the U.S. and Canada. He was one of the youngest conductors to be awarded the NBA’s Citation of Excellence.

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Clarinets

Bassoons


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