OAOA Orch June2023 - SCORE

Instrumentation
Piccolo
Flute
2 Oboes
2 Clarinets in B flat
Bassoon
Contrabassoon
4 Horns in F
2 Trumpets in C
2 Tenor Trombones
Bass Trombone
Tuba
Timpani (4 drums)
Percussion 1
Whip (Slapstick), Suspended Crash Cymbal, Hi-hat, Vibraphone, Train Whistle
Percussion 2
Temple Blocks, Bass Drum, Vibraslap, Glockenspiel, Flexatone
Percussion 3
Ratchet, Snare Drum, Xylophone, Tam-tam, Kick Drum
Harp
Celesta
Strings
Score in C
Duration: ca. 8'
Performance Notes
Trills: 1/2 represents a half-step trill, w represents a whole-step trill.
Tempo Changes (accelerando, ritardando, rallentando) should be smooth and gradual; the music should
accelerate/decelerate with a constant rate of change, and should aim to reach the next indicated tempo. They should
begin and end where notated.
Glissandi should also be smooth and last for the entire duration as notated. Glissandi that span the length of several
measures should be played as one long unbroken slide.
Program Note
“Write what you know” is something I think about often, and having lived in New York for several years now I
probably know the city's subway system better than I know certain relatives. What begins as one of the most daunting
aspects of living in New York gradually becomes one of the most comforting; not the trips themselves – they’re
distinctly uncomfortable – but rather their familiarity. You know what you’re in for, you know where you’re going, you
know it will be over soon. It’s the tearing-off-the-band-aid of New York.
I take the 1 train, which runs along the west side of Manhattan, at least twice a day from 157th street to 66th and
back. Highlights of this trip include being bowled over by the herd of people switching trains at 96th, the elevated
tightrope-esque 125th street stop which skies above Harlem, and the turbulent tracks between 145th and 157th. It’s
maddening, but there is something satisfying about knowing to grab the handrail once you leave 145th.
This piece is about my commute from 66th up to 157th. To me, nothing is a better symbol of the energy shifts that
you experience in a city like New York. You’re either on, hurtling through work, school, meetings, friends, more work,
or you’re off, sitting in the back of a Starbucks trying to catch your breath for a moment, or sitting on an empty 1 train
as it emerges from underground at 125th street, sun shining through the windows. In New York, there’s no in between.
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