Beyond the Gateless Gate

Beyond the Gateless Gate
For Concert Band
Grade 3
Program Notes:
In May 2022, in the Lowellville Public School, a student tragically took his own life in the cafeteria while in front of his peers. With an average graduating class of thirty-five students, it is a very close-knit community. Having a personal connection to the school, hearing about this tragedy broke my heart. Knowing these students and getting to know this community over the past several months, I wanted to do what I could to help this community heal with the only way I knew how: through music.
Beyond the Gateless Gate opens with a quote from the Lowellville Schools’ alma mater, descending into a bass clarinet solo of the piece’s second theme, Mussorgsky’s The Great Gate of Kiev from Pictures at an Exhibition. This first section of the work depicts the grieving and feeling of loss after a tragedy. The second section represents the chaos in one’s mind dealing with their emotions and thoughts throughout this time in their lives. The third section, while still showing a feeling of loss, adds in a feeling of hope and healing from the event. The final section of the work represents the community joining together in healing and finding a light at the end of the darkness. This final section is what the Lowellville community has shown to me: a family where everyone cares for one another, even in its darkest hour.
Premiered by the Lowellville (OH) Junior High & High School Combined Bands
Robert Antonucci, Director
Premiered May 22, 2023