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PRODUCTION NOTES
Few stories have been as impactful and as enduring as the 1001 Nights. Sultana is a rendition of this piece of folklore as seen from the perspective of Scheherazade, the woman who managed to preserve her life over the course of almost 3 years through story after story.Our tale begins with percussion and synthesizer providing the backdrop for a lush low wind feature of the Sultan’s theme. Slowly developing and growing, the full ensemble ushers in the climactic tutti moment from Mvmt. 3 of the orchestral piece, the moment when the Sultan and the Sultana realize their love for one another, and the Sultan decides to end his bloodthirsty rampage. Scheherazade’s theme is hinted at in the keyboards as the movement builds to an exciting conclusion.We’re transported back to the beginning of the story with ethereal vocals as the brass intones a dramatic version of the announcement theme. A saxophone duet introduces the Kalendar Prince’s theme, which gets distributed around the woodwind family, prior to the brass taking center stage back with the announcement leitmotif reemerging. These trade back and forth before joining with Sultana’s theme providing a flourishing finish to this movement.The keyboards and pit percussion provide a backdrop to solo saxophone as a brass choir and frenetic woodwinds trade-off statements. The drum line lays a groove down, as the winds continue a hypnotic sequence that draws the audience in just in time for the full ensemble ballad hit to resonate with a lush rendition of the Prince and the Princess echoing throughout the stadium, as the Sultana finally breaks the ice enveloping the heart of the Sultan Shahryar.For the final movement, the ethereal vocals return, and the full ensemble provides a short introduction before making way for a twisted woodwind feature of the Festival of Baghdad theme. Runs travel through the woodwinds, building up to a reimagined version of Sultana’s theme in the winds. It gets disassembled, turned on its head, passed around from section to section, then finally the Sultan’s theme comes back in full force, as we hear Scheherazade finishing the show, singing above the ensemble.
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