Alien Visitors by Bob Margolis

ALIEN VISITORS for concert band

Alien Visitors by Bob Margolis. Hear streaming audio on this page. Suitable for middle school & high school bands, 3 2/3 minutes duration, Grade 3.

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Hear a complete performance in stereo streaming audio using (& requiring) QuickTime 3 or newer:

Hear a complete performance of Alien Visitors (movement 1, "Arrival")
Hear a complete performance of Alien Visitors (movement 2, "Aliens")
Hear a complete performance of Alien Visitors (movement 3, "Attack")

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Scroll down for program notes & instrumentation



Program Note

Alien Visitors has a science fiction theme: What would it be like to be visited by aliens? The movement titles - Arrival, Aliens, Attack - are descriptive of the action: In Arrival, we hear the starship as it approaches, growing larger and larger and louder and louder. Aliens is a character study of our visitors. At the end of the movement they disappear in an upward-wafting cloud of musical smoke. The final movement, Attack, describes a vicious, mechanized attack.

Suggestions to the Conductor

Tempo: The first movement should not be too slow; the tempo taken by Donald S. George in the demonstration recording is a bit faster than that marked in the score, and it seems to work particularly well. (George starts the piece at about 53 and accelerates to about 65.) The second movement can be ineffective if too slow, and George's 65 (instead of the marked 60) also works quite well. The third movement (marked at 168) has little leeway, and certainly must not be allowed to drag. George's 156 works well because of the extraordinary force and energy of the interpretation.

In the first movement the xylophone is likely to play the six glissandi incorrectly (measures 21-24). Each should last for the duration of a full half note. (There is a tendency to play them for the duration of quarter notes.)

The tone cluster in the second movement (measures 21-30) will not be easy. Be sure that no one instrument sticks out, which is what may tend to happen. If it does, it would be best to omit that part. However, it is fine for the cluster entrances to each be individually audible, provided that the cluster itself has a homogeneous, blended sound. (So, tiny attacks on the entrances, but then bring down the sound levels to effect a blend.) If the accelerando is played perfectly, the effect should be one of a sound cloud that floats or sweeps upwards in pitch, synthetic in its perfection.
It is especially important that the timpani in the third movement be allowed to play out, and that the woodblocks be fearsome and prominent. The recording is perfect in both respects. Be sure that the timpanist and percussionists throughout use the specified sticks and mallets.

Bob Margolis
Brooklyn, New York, 3 Sol, 10 February 1991

Alien Visitors was composed between 1 and 10 February 1990 and was commissioned by the Roosevelt Middle School of the Arts Concert Band, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Laura Sindberg, conductor

Instrumentation

1 Full Score
1 Piccolo
5 Flute 1
5 Flute 2
2 Oboe
4 Bassoon and String Bass
4 Bb Clarinet 1
4 Bb Clarinet 2
4 Bb Clarinet 3
4 Bb Bass Clarinet
5 Eb Alto Saxophone 1 & 2
2 Bb Tenor Saxophone
2 Eb Baritone Saxophone
3 Bb Trumpet 1
3 Bb Trumpet 2
3 Bb Trumpet 2
2 Horn in F 1
2 Horn in F 2
2 Trombone 1
4 Trombone 2 & 3
3 Euphonium (Bass Clef)
2 Euphonium (Treble Clef)
4 Tuba
1 Timpani
2 Percussion 1 (one player)
2 Percussion 2 (one player)
2 Percussion 3 (one or two players)

Performance by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Symphony Band, Donald S. George, conductor.

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