I have been noticing throughout my studies on David Maslanka’s music is the fact that many of his titles are references to God’s word or portions of prayer. I have noticed a lot about the spirit of composers who work for concert band, orchestra, and choirs in that they have the spirit that we all long to have, and that is a hunger for deeper presence or deeper meaning. God is glistening through this entire work with the bright, high clarinet and percussion strikes. I hear the sunlight or can imagine the brightness of sunlight in the opening with a mysterious minor flair to it that gives the listener a clue that something new and different is going on here. He uses many open fifth and fourth tonalities in the open that give a brightness to the work. Low instruments like the horn, piano, timpani are then brought in to add depth to the piece. This depth then sweeps up-range to this regal sounding trumpet part that sounds majestic and bright. There’s much brightness going on here. Then, the brightness aides into dark woodwinds and lower brass giving way to a nice shift in tonality to G major with 6/4 chords dotting the landscape. The low woodwinds and timpani make for a thundering brilliance that will hold an audience’s attention for more than a little while. Mix this darkness with serene brightness and you’ve got a big range covered. That’s only the beginning.
Later on, there is a muted section that is somewhat of a lurker in the flutes and clarinets. It is an important lesson for composition students who are budding composers to learn the concept of wide scoring versus the somewhat quiet, dulcet tones and moments where the texture need not be so saturated. This piece sure captures this for me.
A marching C-E-flat-F-sharp-G back-and-forth pattern ensues shortly and then descends into colorful, chromatic bliss that carries on throughout the remainder of the work from triplet woodwinds to charging brass. Sing-song-like lyrical passages with beautiful flowing piano and/or harp and minor auxiliary percussion keep the now-fast-moving 6/8 portion of the piece moving forward. “Give Us This Day” is definitely one of those pieces that takes the audience up out of the mundane into different uncharted lands. This is a big thing. This is a good thing for musical audiences and a treat to hear at that.
