All the While

SKU: CF.YPS198

ISBN 9781491152188. UPC: 680160909681. Key: C minor.

All the While was inspired by a very special person in Tyler Arcari's life. Directors will be happy to find many opportunities for emotional and passionate playing with plenty of fun in the middle for young bands.  All the While gives students a number of chances to work on expressive playing during the beginning and ending sections, and offers a light rhythmic middle section for contrast.
Program Notes:All the While is a bit of a personal piece for me. I was inspired to write it by a very special person in my life. It might be a young-band piece but I feel that it has the capacity for great emotion and passionate playing as well as a little fun in the middle. Sometimes it is difficult to tell people how you feel, even if you have known them for a long time. I think sometimes we say in our heads that “I have felt this way for a long time,” and all the while never being able to put it to words.About the work:The piece opens with a flute and alto saxophone duet. This melody trades off at m. 10 with the addition of new voices and harmonies building in intensity all the way to m. 28. I personally like to use extended phrases in this section, though it looks like it would just utilize four-measure phrases. I feel this adds to the momentum building in dynamic intensity. Measure 28 is a subito change beginning with a prominent Timpani solo. The following section should be played as lightly as possible to avoid a lumbering feel. In mm. 68- 70, the agogic accents should not be very heavy, but more pointed in their momentum to m. 70.Measures 70–76 should be taken with metric liberty bringing out all of the moving parts in the low brass. The low brass really adds the foundation of momentum for the rest of the band here. Measure 76 to the end, though a repetition of material from the beginning, should be played as the high point of the piece and familiar conclusion.