Mark Wolfram's "Firestorm" (for Concert Band) dramatically presents the cycle of this life-changing event in music.
As the looming specter of climate change alters our very existence on this planet, the ultimate consequence of a cycle of drought, excessive heat domes, winds - and sometimes human stupidity - is a firestorm. Not just a forest fire, but an incredibly vicious conflagration which affects flora and fauna alike.
The sequence is all too common: prolonged drought, tinder-dry brush, a spark - be it from power lines, lightning or even human negligence - igniting a steady, roaring wave of fire and smoke, often stoked by high winds. These winds also help the firestorm jump from one area to another, consuming everything that it encounters. The animals and birds of the forest are driven from their homes. The people are all evacuated with often just what they can carry and the clothes on their back. The human cost is huge. The cost to nature is incalculable.
A firestorm has many phases: the ever-quickening lead up to the initial fire, the fire growing exponentially in size and intensity, lulls in the fire where the smoke and winds carry embers to other vulnerable areas, and ultimately the fire burning itself out - either with the help of human firefighters and/or rain. In the aftermath of the firestorm the forest begins a long process of regrowth and renewal, eventually producing new life in the forest.
"Firestorm" (for Concert Band) is a tour de force for professional and high level college ensembles. It is a GRADE 6 composition which has a duration of approximately 10:47.
A complete set of full-sized parts and a bound, transposed
full score are included. Available only through this website from Sound Studio Publications. The instrumentation/parts distribution for each set is as follows:
Please email us if you have any trouble with online ordering.
If additional single parts are needed, they are available for $1.50 each - only when you purchase a full set of parts.
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