October is a contemporary piece for concert band approximately six minutes in duration that was written by Eric Whitacre in 2000.
[2] In 1998, Eric Whitacre received a commission to write a seven-minute piece for the Nebraska Wind Consortium.
[7] The instrumentation of October is standard for most high school concert bands,[8] with the exceptions that it requires two bass clarinets and two separate parts for both euphonium and tuba.
October requires a substantial amount of playing from each section of the band and has many tuttis, giving students practice in blending with other instruments and in matching the timbre across the ensemble.
This progression will create the serene and expressive mood that Whitacre aims for and will allow individuals, as well as the ensemble, to play with emotion.
[8] A new theme is heard in measures 19–30: the woodwinds continue to play, and the texture builds up progressively as the brass instruments enter.
The third theme, in A♭ major , is heard in measures 40–65, beginning with a passage for solo euphonium accompanied by clarinets playing tremolo, muted trumpets and stopped horns.
Measures 72–89 present the fourth and final theme in the key of G major , again with the upper woodwinds playing first and then growing until all the instruments have entered.
A six-measure melodic hocket is played by the horn, trombone, euphonium and trumpets, ending with a climax in G major .
[14] The next melody, played by all the upper woodwinds, the tenor saxophone and the horns (II), uses a variety of intervals – fourths, fifths, sevenths and an octave – making it somewhat angular.
The final theme presents a new melody played by the flutes, clarinets and alto saxophones; it is rhythmically simpler than previous material (V).
The piece begins in D♭ major with a single held note in the 1st clarinets and gentle wind chimes underneath.
Proceeding to the first theme, the texture becomes thicker, and the bass clarinet, bassoons, euphoniums and tubas now play the accompaniment.