Open Space: F Horn 1
By Brian Balmages
Grade: 3.5
Item: 98-PC-DB1617_H1
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Description
Experience the International Space Station through the power of music. This epic three-movement work musically depicts several astronauts' first-hand accounts of launch, first experiences of floating, and a breathtaking spacewalk. Movements include Launch; Floating, yet Falling; and Spacewalk. A powerful and substantial centerpiece for any program.
Don't just read it, hear it, play along with it, and watch your students grow with it. In MakeMusic Cloud, Open Space: F Horn 1 comes alive with professional accompaniment, adjustable tempo, and built-in practice tools that turn solo practice into real progress.
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Additional Details
Series:
FJH Concert Band
Publisher:
The FJH Music Company, Inc.
SKU:
98-PC-DB1617_H1
More about this title
About the Composer: Brian Balmages
Brian Balmages has built a distinguished career writing for orchestras, bands, and chamber ensembles, with performances at venues including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and Sydney Opera House. His accolades include the A. Austin Harding Award from the American School Band Directors Association, the 2020 NBA William D. Revelli Composition Contest, and membership in the American Bandmasters Association. He received the inaugural James Madison University Distinguished Alumni Award and was commissioned by the University of Miami to compose music for the inauguration of its sixth president.
As a conductor, Balmages maintains active guest engagements with all-state and regional ensembles, university groups, and professional orchestras worldwide. His conducting appearances span major conferences including the Midwest Clinic, Western International Band Clinic, and the College Band Directors Conference. Currently, he serves as Director of MakeMusic Publications and Digital Education for Alfred and MakeMusic.
Why we love this
Open Space stands out as a programmatic work that sustains narrative interest across three movements without sacrificing musical substance. The Grade 3.5 difficulty makes an ambitious, contest-worthy centerpiece accessible to accomplished high school and middle school ensembles, offering the kind of dramatic arc that builds audience engagement and energizes a concert program.
What to expect
Open Space translates the awe of spaceflight into sound through three distinct emotional landscapes: the visceral power of launch, the disorientation and freedom of weightlessness, and the transcendent isolation of a spacewalk above Earth. The music unfolds with cinematic scope while maintaining the organic intensity of live performance.
Who it's for
This work suits accomplished high school and mature middle school concert bands seeking a substantial, musically rewarding centerpiece with genuine narrative appeal. Directors preparing for contests and festivals will find a piece that balances compositional sophistication with accessibility, engaging both ensemble and audience.
How to get the most out of it
- Study the composer's program notes alongside the score to understand the emotional arc of each movement; this context sharpens phrasing decisions and helps the ensemble connect to the astronauts' experiences rather than playing surface-level descriptions.
- Balance the orchestra sound carefully during the Floating, yet Falling movement to maintain clarity of layered textures while preserving the weightlessness the title suggests.
- Build the climax of Spacewalk gradually across the movement; resist the urge to establish full dynamic intensity too early, allowing the moment of weightlessness in space to feel earned and transcendent.
How to use it
Program this as the closing work on a concert that builds toward grand gesture, or place it as the centerpiece of a program where it can command full attention. The three-movement structure and dramatic arc make it ideal for spring concerts, festival competitions, or community performances where a single work can serve as the emotional climax of the evening.
Skills your students will build
- Sustaining musical phrase across extended passages and multiple key areas
- Balancing transparent textures with fullness of sound in programmatic contexts
- Responding to conductor interpretation of programmatic content and emotional direction
- Reading and executing articulation and dynamic contrast that support narrative storytelling
- Ensemble coordination in complex rhythmic and timbral transitions between movements