Sunshine Music

for chamber orchestra

12[1.Eh]11 — 1000 — Str
Alternate arrangement substitutes Fl.2 for English Horn

Duration: 10 minutes

Octava Chamber Orchestra: Sunshine Music Sunshine Music

  1. Sunshine in the Dooryard:
    Homage to a melody by David Paul Mesler
  2. Sunshine in the City
  3. Sunshine in the Mountains

Performance History · Download PDF Score · Purchase Sheet Music

"A Summer Painting" by Edward B. Gordon

Sunshine Music was composed in 2011 for the Pacifica Chamber Orchestra under Fred Chu, who gave the premiere performance January 22, 2012, in Everett, Washington. An alternate arrangement, with two flutes and no English horn, was premiered on May 20, 2013, by the Patel Conservatory Youth Orchestra under Stephen P. Brown.

Sunshine Music is a single movement, in three sections, performed without a break. Part One, Sunshine in the Dooryard, is an homage to a melody by David Paul Mesler from his song setting of the Walt Whitman poem When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd. Part Two, Sunshine in the City, is a bright and cheery depiction of urban experience, while Part Three, Sunshine in the Mountains, derives from Song of the Mountains, the composer's choral setting of text by American naturalist John Muir.


Purchase Sheet Music

The score for Sunshine Music is available as a free download. The Score and Parts are available from J.W.Pepper and Sheet Music Plus.

Performance History

Premiere January 22, 2012, by the Pacifica Chamber Orchestra, Fred Chu conducting, First Presbyterian Church, Everett, Washington.

Alternate score premiere May 20, 2013, by the Patel Conservatory Youth Orchestra, Stephen P. Brown conducting, TECU Theater, Tampa, Florida.

September 27, 2014, by the Octava Chamber Orchestra, Johann Louwersheimer conducting, Maple Park Church, Lynnwood, Washington.

May 18 & 20, 2018, by the Beaverton Symphony Orchestra under Travis Hatton at the Village Baptist Church, Beaverton, Oregon.