Spirit of the Republic by Kenneth D. Friedrich Small Ensemble - Digital Sheet Music

'At the town of Washington, 59 representatives voted intoexistence a sovereign nation.' (taken from www.birthplaceoftexas.com)When Larry Campbell emailed me about writing a piece for his tuba ensemble toperform in Waco, I had no idea the premise, background, or inspiration I wasgoing to draw on to complete this work. I knew Larry (director of bands for BlinnCollege in Brenham, Texas) quite well, as he has been hugely supportive of mywork since I started publishing. This, however, was the first time he sought tocommission me and I wanted to create something special for the group and theschool. A month later, and still with no concrete ideas to visualize, music startedto come and I plunged into the work.In late July, the work was completed. I was quite happy with the score, yet stillhad no ideas for a title. I sent the score and sounds to Larry to see if he got anyideas from it. He told me he was happy with any title I came up with, as long asthe word 'Brazos' didn't appear in it. The river was a good half hour away, he toldme. Though I chuckled at the time, the conversation did stir up some ideas.For a week I did some research into the area of Washington County whereBrenham is the seat. Known as the 'birthplace of Texas' the county has quite arich history surrounding the above quote from the BPOT website. Add to that the175th anniversary of the birth of Texas, I started listening to the music again. Icould hear the gunfire and cannon of past battles, the cries of 'Remember theAlamo! Remember Goliad!', and the beauty of this state as spring turns to summerand fall to winter with colors, odors, and flavors. The music suddenly meantsomething more special than ever before and from first note to last, the titlebegan to form.. .SPIRIT OF THE REPUBLIC...so simple, yet so deep. I called Larrywith the ideas and got his emphatic approval.I hope with every performance the 'spirit' continues to live on...in the music, in ourhearts, and in our lives...as we remember, with reverence and gratitude, thosewho played their roles in the shaping of this great state.