Conflicts and Confluences
Subtitle: Symphonie No. XV
General Info
Year: 1983 / 1986
Duration: c. 15:00
Difficulty: VI (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Molenaar Edition
Cost: Score and Parts - €220.54 | Score Only - €33.31
Movements
1. Comincière - 4:30
2. Adagio molto - 7:10
3. Scherzo finale - 3:20
Instrumentation
Full Score
Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
Bassoon
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Cornet I-II-III
B-flat Trumpet I-II
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Tenorhorn I-II
Trombone I-II-III-IV
Euphonium I-II
Tuba I-II
String Bass
Timpani
Percussion (3 players), including:
- Bass Drum
- Bongo (4)
- Crash Cymbal
- Gong
- Glockenspiel
- Marimba
- Snare Drum
- Suspended Cymbal (2)
- Tam-tam
- Triangle
- Woodblock
- Xylophone
Errata
None discovered thus far.
Program Notes
Comincière begins with somber and deep sonorities, in a dense and mysterious atmosphere. The texture becomes more complex and leads us to the first allegro. A first thematic idea is presented by the brass, in the form of a fanfare. This material will dialogue in a recurrent way with the woodwinds, who interact on the material presented in the introduction. After an abrupt break, a calmer moment, “Tranquillo”, contrasts with the initial atmosphere, although Badings very quickly returns to the first tempo, to conclude the movement with an imposing orchestral tutti.
Adagio molto, the second movement, begins with the first clarinets in soli, presenting a theme, indicated “molto espressivo”, based on open and augmented fourths, and minor seconds, producing an atmosphere of apparent calm, very expressive and dramatic. The conflict with the brass, based on thematic elements of the first movement, will not take long to appear, marked “pesante” in the text. After a moment of great sonorous intensity, the movement returns to the initial calm, culminating quietly with an atmosphere like that of the beginning, with a floating flute line culminating on an unresolved major 9th.
The symphony concludes with a light scherzo presented by the percussion section. The melodic material is entrusted to the timpani, then taken over by a suggestive bassoon solo. In an alternation of dazzling motifs in the brass and rapid bursts in the woodwinds, a concept presented from the beginning of the work, the movement concludes in an imposing tutti, resolving on a perfect chord of B flat major tenuto in the brass, almost reminiscent of Holst and especially Hindemith.
- Program Note from WASBE
Media
- Audio: Landesblasorchester Baden-Württemberg (Walter Ratzek, conductor)
- Audio CD: Landesblasorchester Baden-Württemberg (Walter Ratzek, conductor) - 1999
- Audio CD: Conservatorium Harmonieorkest Maastricht (Sef Pijpers, conductor) - 1988
State Ratings
None discovered thus far.
Performances
To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project
- Boston (Mass.) Conservatory at Berklee Wind Ensemble (Matthew Marsit, conductor) - 30 September 2023
- Societat Instructiva Unió Musical de Tavernes de la Valldigna (Spain) (Carlos Sancho Cantus, conductor) - 17 July 2022 (World Music Contest 2022)
- Sociedad Musical La Paz de Siete Aguas (Spain) (José Tello, conductor) - 31 July 2005 (World Music Contest 2005)
Works for Winds by This Composer
- Armageddon (1968)
- Ciacona Seria
- Conflicts and Confluences (1983)
- Concerto for Flute and Wind Symphony Orchestra (1963)
- Concerto for Harp (1967)
- Concerto for Violoncello No. 3 (1985)
- Double Concerto for Bassoon and Contrabassoon (1964)
- Epiphany (1979)
- Figures Sonores (1984)
- Golden Age (1979)
- Greensleeves (1970)
- Lieshout en Zijn Molens (1976)
- Partita Bucolica (1960)
- Quadruple Concerto for Four Saxophones (1984)
- Ragtime (1969)
- Reflections (1980)
- Sagas for Band (1984)
- Saxophoonconcert (1951)
- Symphony in C for Wind Orchestra (1966)
- Sinfonietta No. 2 (1981)
- Symphony No. 15. See: Conflicts and Confluences
- Transitions (1973)
Resources
- Badings, H. (1986). Conflicts and Confluences : Symphonie No. XV: for symphonic band 1983 [score]. Molenaar's Muziekcentrale: Wormerveer, Holland.
- "Conflicts and Confluences: Symphony no. XV." Wind Band Symphony Archive. Accessed 3 October 2023
- "CONFLICTS AND CONFLUENCES, Symphony No.15 for Wind Orchestra by Henk Badings (The Netherlands, 1907 – 1987)." WASBE. Web. (Featured as WASBE’s Composition of the Week, 31 October 2022). Accessed 4 January 2023
- Perusal Score