The Tuckasegee Flyer - An Orchestral Work about a Steam Locomotive

Hello everyone, I am back to feature an overhauled work of mine: The Tuckasegee Flyer.

CONTEXT:
Originally written in 2024 by commission from my friend, Brody, this work was meant to accompany a YouTube video series he was creating. Two years later, and during this summer, I felt in a trough of composition. I have sketched a lot of ideas for themes or independent phrases, however, I had no passion or inspiration to make them into full pieces. So, after looking through my file system, I looked through this work and immediately, I had ideas.

This work is an orchestral depiction of what it feels like to ride behind a steam locomotive as seen or felt by a passenger. If you would like to know more specifics and a longer explanation of the work, go to the 3rd page of the PDF (which is listed as page 1 due to the front and back of the cover page).

Thanks for viewing my score and taking a listen!
(Comments welcome)

This work in its current state would not have been possible without the support of friends and fellow composers. Big thank you to @UncleRed99 for his help with understanding brass ensembles as well as non-YCF composer @Arbolav for his help in the development. You two elevated this piece and I am forever thankful!

The Tuckasegee Flyer_SCORE.pdf

The Tuckasegee Flyer_SCORE.pdf

Hi @MK_Piano !

What a wonderful steam railway adventure you've created! I think it will fit right in with similar train-themed repertoire in the catalogue such as the Copenhagen Steam Railway Galop and Pacific 231. I love the spirit of the piece! The brass Eb major 6/9 chords do a wonderful job of mimicking the train whistle! I didn't even realize what chord that was until I heard this piece. The melodic variations and modulations keep the piece fresh and the modulation to Db major is a well conceived and welcome one! The descending Eb, D, C, Bb figure is a really great ostinato that puts me in a chugging mood! LoL

I know you're a stickler to score engraving so I don't have much critique there except that usually the Horns are paired 1&3 and 2&4 on each staff. Also, I'm surprised that you used C Trumpets - and only two of them? When I played trumpet, Bb trumpet was still the standard and I'd expect 3 in the orchestra to be available. Also, any reason why you didn't group the woodwinds two to a staff? It would save a lot of space on the page. Those are just my minor critiques. Thanks again for your recent help on my Christmas Mash-up!!!

15 minutes ago, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

Hi @MK_Piano !

What a wonderful steam railway adventure you've created! I think it will fit right in with similar train-themed repertoire in the catalogue such as the Copenhagen Steam Railway Galop and Pacific 231. I love the spirit of the piece! The brass Eb major 6/9 chords do a wonderful job of mimicking the train whistle! I didn't even realize what chord that was until I heard this piece. The melodic variations and modulations keep the piece fresh and the modulation to Db major is a well conceived and welcome one! The descending Eb, D, C, Bb figure is a really great ostinato that puts me in a chugging mood! LoL

I know you're a stickler to score engraving so I don't have much critique there except that usually the Horns are paired 1&3 and 2&4 on each staff. Also, I'm surprised that you used C Trumpets - and only two of them? When I played trumpet, Bb trumpet was still the standard and I'd expect 3 in the orchestra to be available. Also, any reason why you didn't group the woodwinds two to a staff? It would save a lot of space on the page. Those are just my minor critiques. Thanks again for your recent help on my Christmas Mash-up!!!

You know, with the score being two years old, and my experience also being two years younger at the time, I just assumed the horn staves were already formatted correctly as they are for all my scores/ templates now. That was an oversight by me due to complacency.

C-trumpets are the preferred instrument for orchestral settings compared to the Bb-trumpet. Why? I am unsure the specific reason/ evolution to that answer, however, I know it is industry standard now to see C-trumpets in a vast number of orchestral works. Trumpets in D, Eb, and Bb are some of the exceptions with Bb being the other most common. I used for that reason and because I wanted C-trumpet for it's slightly brighter character compared to Bb. To add, the instrumentation lists Four Trumpets split between two parts (2+2 for volume). With the standard of 3 distinct parts over two staves, I kept the parts limited to two for simplicity when it came to orchestrating. That was done two years ago when I created the piece and I just kept it the same now.

Lastly, I did not pair the woodwind staves together as they have very distinct parts between all the winds. Trying to condense them onto a single stave felt like a cluster-bomb I was not willing to tackle. Thus, having them explicit and separated establishes a strong clarity for what the part is doing. To add, as I have printed an earlier draft of this score once before, the pdf makes it feel smaller than what you will see physically. I do not think the measure/ part size will be an issue.

Thanks for pointing out the horn parts, I will fix that immediately!

Still so happy how the flute solo at b.76 sounds ;)

Glad I could be of assistance, with both, what we referred to as the "Brass Hymnal" sections, and with the C Section of the piece. I had fun being involved in the process, directly :)