Slavia

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Slavia was premiered at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church in Olviedo, Florida in celebration of 100 years of the founding of Slavia, Florida which is part of Olviedo. Slavia is an unincorporated community in Seminole County, Florida, United States. It is located along Florida State Road 426 near the southwest border of Oviedo. In 1911, Lutheran Slovaks originally from what at the time was the Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Slovakia) who were living in Cleveland, Ohio formed the Slavia Colony Company with the goal of establishing a colony in Florida. This piece depicts a bit of the history of Slavia in the first hundred years, from the shoveling of the first dirt and cutting down the first trees to clear the land, to success in the farming industry, through the trials of war and harsh weather and to the success of building a community. Since this was celebration After the premiere performance in 2013, the people of the town planted a “time capsule” to commemorate the 100th Anniversary activities done during the year. Included in “time capsule” was a score of the orchestra piece “Slavia” as well as a DVD recording of the performance. The anticipated opening of the time capsule is in 75 years – in 2090. Since it is not known if DVD players will be common in the 2088, a DVD player was also included in the “time capsule”. The instrumentation of Slavia is Piccolo, 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, English Horn, 2 Clarinets, Bass Clarinet, 2 Bassoons, 4 Horns, 3 Trumpets, 3 Trombones, Tuba, Timpani, Percussion (4 players – Vibraphone, Ground Shovel, Nail Hammer, Wood Saw, Spring Drum, Suspended Cymbal, Glockenspiel, Bass Drum, Snare Drum, Tam Tam, Xylophone, Triangle, 4 Tenor Drums and Crash Cymbals) Harp, Organ and Strings. Percussion notes: Spring Drum – a drum with a long metal spring attached to the middle of the head that when shaken, makes the sound of thunder. The most common is the Remo SP-0716-1A 16” x 7”. Ground Shovel – The beginning of the composition portrays the first beginnings of clearing the land. It is suggested to have a bucket of granular sand on which the percussionist can insert the shovel to get the first (+) sound and then drop the sand back into the bucket to get the second (o) sound. It is suggested that in order to get the correct sound that projects, it may be necessary to use larger granules of sand. Nail Hammer – A metal hammer should be used to put metal nails into a piece of wood. It may be necessary to use larger nails for the best sound projection. Wood Saw – A handsaw with the back and forth movement into a piece of wood.