"Palace of the Snow Queen" by Jason A. Spraggins Released by Gary P. Gilroy Publications

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Evening Star (for concert band)

A piece for concert band Jason A. Spraggins (ASCAP): copyright 2018. Inspired by the poem by Edgar Allan Poe. Based a musical setting of the poem for voice and piano written by Jason Spraggins in 2010.

Evening Star

'Twas noontide of summer,

And mid-time of night;

And stars, in their orbits,

Shone pale, thro' the light

Of the brighter, cold moon,

'Mid planets her slaves,

Herself in the Heavens,

Her beam on the waves.

I gazed awhile On her cold smile;

Too cold- too cold for me-

There pass'd, as a shroud,

A fleecy cloud,

And I turned away to thee,

Proud Evening Star,

In thy glory afar,

And dearer thy beam shall be;

For joy to my heart

Is the proud part

Thou bearest in Heaven at night,

And more I admire

Thy distant fire,

Than that colder, lowly light.

-Edgar Allan Poe

"Palace of the Snow Queen" (for concert band) by Jason Spraggins to be published by Gary P. Gilroy Publications

Jason's piece for concert band, "Palace of the Snow Queen," has been accepted for publication by Gary P. Gilroy Publications.  The piece will also be recorded by the Arizona State Wind Ensemble under the direction of Dr. Jason Caslor.  The piece was inspired by the "The Snow Queen", a tale by Hans Christian Anderson.  

Electronic Demo:

Live 2018 Demo Recording by  Arizona State Wind Ensemble (Dr. Jason Caslor, conductor):

The tale, comprised of seven stories, was first published December 1844.  The seventh story opens in the Palace of the Snow Queen, where two young children defeat the evil Queen through the power of love and friendship. 

Hans Christian Anderson describes the Snow Queen’s Palace, writing…

The walls of the palace were of driving snow, and the windows and doors of cutting winds. There were more than a hundred halls there, according as the snow was driven by the winds. The largest was many miles in extent; all were lighted up by the powerful Aurora Borealis, and all were so large, so empty, so icy cold, and so resplendent! Mirth never reigned there; there was never even a little bear–ball, with the storm for music, while the polar bears went on their hindlegs and showed off their steps. Never a little tea–party of white young lady foxes; vast, cold, and empty were the halls of the Snow Queen. The northern–lights shone with such precision that one could tell exactly when they were at their highest or lowest degree of brightness. In the middle of the empty, endless hall of snow, was a frozen lake; it was cracked in a thousand pieces, but each piece was so like the other, that it seemed the work of a cunning artificer. In the middle of this lake sat the Snow Queen when she was at home; and then she said she was sitting in the Mirror of Understanding, and that this was the only one and the best thing in the world. (Hans Christian Anderson, 1844).