Elfin Thunderbolt
composer: Nancy Galbraith (1998)
genre: wind symphony
length: 1 movement, 8:30 minutes
orchestration: 2fl, pic, 2ob, 3cl (at least 2 per part), 2bs-cl, 2bn;
2a-sax, t-sax, b-sax; 4hn, 6tpt, 3tbn, 2euph, 2tba;
timp, 6perc, string-bass
publisher: Subito Music Publishing (ASCAP)
60 Depot Street, Verona, NJ 07044
mail@subitomusic.com • 973-857-3440
audio:

world premiere: 14 November 1998
IUP Wind EnsembleJack Stamp, conductor
Gorell Recital Hall; Indiana, Pennsylvania
composer's note: "Elfin Thunderbolt" opens with a fff explosion in the percussion, which then becomes an accompaniment for a brass fanfare. This fanfare-like material is stated in various ways in the opening section. A tranquil woodwind texture follows, under which rich brass chords are expressed. Suddenly the tempo becomes presto. A sprightly melody is stated by the flutes, and eventually passed through all of the woodwinds. Following a ritardando, the tranquil woodwind texture returns. All motion comes to a halt, until a ppp snare drum announces the final ascent to the thunderous conclusion. —N.G.
press bytes:

Nancy Galbraith delivers a high-energy score with her "Elfin Thunderbolt" (1998). The music drives hard from its opening to a lullaby-like woodwind passage about two-thirds of the way through. The dreaminess is dispatched by the arrival of a snare drum that slowly ratchets the excitement level back to that of the work's opening. —Fanfare Magazine

recordings: Internal Combustion
Klavier Records • 2001 • K 11119
IUP Wind Symphony
Jack Stamp, conductor
  Texas Music Educators Association 1999
UPC: 710396299925
All-State Concert Band
Jack Stamp, conductor
  IUP Bands of 1999
IUP Wind Symphony
Jack Stamp, conductor
source: nancygalbraith.com