Click here to listen to AMERICAN CHILD as performed by the University of Colorado Wind Symphony, Allan McMurray conducting with the composer at the piano.

www.shattingermusic.com (800.444.2408) – full score only
Parts available from the composer

Commissioned by a consortium of 9 conductors, led by Stuart Sims at CSU-Stanislas
Premiered at CSU-Stanislas, Fall 2003
DURATION: 10’

Piccolo (dbl. Flute)
2 Flutes
2 Oboes
English Horn
Clarinet (E-flat)
4 Clarinets (B-flat)
Bass Clarinet
2 Bassoons
Contrabassoon
4 Saxophones (SATB)

3 Trumpets (B-flat)
4 Horns (F)
2 Tenor Trombones
Bass Trombone
2 Euphoniums
Tuba

Contrabass
Timpani
2 Percussion
Harp
Piano

Program Note:

I came to the title “American Child” as a dedication to my newborn nephew Nicky Robert Paulus.  My aim was to write a work with both an American and innocent nature.  The open-air harmonies, song-like melodies, and the treatment of consonances with the kind of importance usually reserved for dissonances contribute much to the distinctively American character of the work.  The innocent, even intimate, quality of the piece comes from treating the wind ensemble like a chamber group with many solos and individual instrumental choirs highlighted throughout.

*Contact the composer for a reference recording of AMERICAN CHILD.