Frank Ticheli

Angels Rising was commissioned by Syracuse University’s Setnor School of Music for the Syracuse University Wind Ensemble, Bradley Ethington and Timothy Diem, conductors, in memory of the lives lost in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. The Syracuse University Wind Ensemble gave the work its premiere on April 13, 2023, at Syracuse University with guest conductor Jerry Junkin, and included the piece in the UK tour commemorating those lost in the tragedy.

Angels Rising is composed in four major sections: lament, chorale, ascent, and prayer. The work begins with a dramatic descent to a dark, ominous G-minor chord. Somber, solemn music appears as a plaintive tribute to the victims, while the tonality slowly sinks downward by half steps. A mystical incantation is sounded by solo flute and piccolo, and answered by a mournful horn solo to close the section. A tender chorale suddenly appears in the woodwinds -- a comforting balm -- followed by a long, deliberate ascent (thrice around the entire circle of fifths). At the top of the ascent, the chorale is restated exaltingly by the brasses and accompanied by rapturous dance-like rhythms in the percussion and woodwinds. The energy recedes, paving the way for the solo flute’s return, now intoning a plaintive, wistful prayer. Quiet wisps of sound come and go in dreamlike fashion as the flute slowly descends to the bottom of its register. The eternal question of existence, asked so often through the ages, is asked yet again as the piece fades to complete silence.

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