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Launch (2008)
Commission/Premiere:
Commissioned in 2008 by Lake Forest High School in Illinois to celebrate the opening of their new music facilities.
Premiered by the Lake Forest High School Orchestra and Chorus, November 5, 2008, Adam Glaser, guest conductor.
About the work:
For full orchestra and optional chorus (SATB)
Duration: approx. 7 minutes
Music and lyrics by Adam Glaser (b. 1970)
Instrumentation:
[2222-4331-tmp+3-str-opt. SATB]. (2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets in Bb, 2 Bassoons, 4 Horns in F, 3 Trumpets in Bb, 2 Trombones, 1 Bass Trombone, 1 Tuba, Timpani, Percussion (3)*, Strings, Optional chorus (SATB)
*Percussion: snare drum, bass drum, crash cymbals, suspended cymbal, tom-toms (3), tambourine, triangle, xylophone, glockenspiel.
Suggested division of percussionists:
Player 1: snare drum.
Player 2: bass drum, cymbals.
Player 3: tom-toms, tambourine, triangle, xylophone, glockenspiel Additional copies of chorus/piano reduction score are available separately.
Lyrics (begin at rehearsal W)
Look all around you at every turn.
Your world has just begun to open.
What happens now is up to you.
Mark your horizon and raise your sail.
Your trails are blazed and clear.
Go forward, and
Launch into the atmosphere,
Build yourself a new frontier, S
tronger every day and every year.
Copyright © 2008 Adam Glaser
September 7, 2008
Recordings (selected live performances):
Perusal Score:
Program Note by the Composer
Commissioned in 2008 by the Lake Forest (IL) High School Orchestra and Chorus, Launch was conceived as a message of hope and encouragement for students of all ages, especially those about to graduate into an unknown, boundless future. With space exploration as the operative metaphor, the work is melodically driven by three motifs representing elements of a launch sequence: Countdown (scale degrees 5-4-3-2-1), Liftoff (1-2-3-4-5), and Continuous Rising (1-2-3-4-5, 4-5-6-7, 6-7-8-9, etc.). Composed in sonata-allegro form, Launch starts with an introduction featuring melodic material built on the Continuous Rising motif. The exposition’s primary theme is introduced by the clarinet, beginning with the Countdown motif pitches A-G-F#-E-D (scale degrees 5-4-3-2-1 in D major). The secondary theme includes subtle iterations of both the Liftoff and Countdown motifs in A major. Ultimately, this secondary theme evolves into the work’s signature “anthem,” reprised in the recapitulation by a brass chorale, a string serenade, and finally, a culminating statement for full orchestra and optional chorus singing original text: “Look all around you at every turn / Your world has just begun to open / What happens now is up to you / Mark your horizon and raise your sail / Your trails are blazed and clear / Go forward and / Launch into the atmosphere / Build yourself a new frontier / Stronger every day and every year.”
-Adam Glaser
Updated 6/26/19