Product Description
'At the town of Washington, 59 representatives voted into
existence a sovereign nation.' (taken from www.birthplaceoftexas.com)
When Larry Campbell emailed me about writing a piece for his tuba ensemble to
perform in Waco, I had no idea the premise, background, or inspiration I was
going to draw on to complete this work. I knew Larry (director of bands for Blinn
College in Brenham, Texas) quite well, as he has been hugely supportive of my
work since I started publishing. This, however, was the first time he sought to
commission me and I wanted to create something special for the group and the
school. A month later, and still with no concrete ideas to visualize, music started
to come and I plunged into the work.
In late July, the work was completed. I was quite happy with the score, yet still
had no ideas for a title. I sent the score and sounds to Larry to see if he got any
ideas from it. He told me he was happy with any title I came up with, as long as
the word 'Brazos' didn't appear in it. The river was a good half hour away, he told
me. Though I chuckled at the time, the conversation did stir up some ideas.
For a week I did some research into the area of Washington County where
Brenham is the seat. Known as the 'birthplace of Texas' the county has quite a
rich history surrounding the above quote from the BPOT website. Add to that the
175th anniversary of the birth of Texas, I started listening to the music again. I
could hear the gunfire and cannon of past battles, the cries of 'Remember the
Alamo! Remember Goliad!', and the beauty of this state as spring turns to summer
and fall to winter with colors, odors, and flavors. The music suddenly meant
something more special than ever before and from first note to last, the title
began to form.. .SPIRIT OF THE REPUBLIC...so simple, yet so deep. I called Larry
with the ideas and got his emphatic approval.
I hope with every performance the 'spirit' continues to live on...in the music, in our
hearts, and in our lives...as we remember, with reverence and gratitude, those
who played their roles in the shaping of this great state.
This product was created by a member of ArrangeMe, Hal Leonard's global self-publishing community of independent composers, arrangers, and songwriters. ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.