Abstract
The purpose of this essay is to provide performance and interpretive background and suggestions for David Maslanka's Give Us This Day. This essay serves as the first significant research document on the work and is intended as a source for musicians seeking information about the work. The essay includes a biography of David Maslanka, as well as descriptions of the history and commissioning of Give Us This Day, its compositional process, and its performance and interpretive issues. Information was accumulated through interviews with David Maslanka, Gary D. Green, director of bands at the University of Miami, and the consortium head, Eric Weirather.