MBM Times Issue #2 from Manhattan Beach Music

MBM

ISSUE #2

TIMES

a CONVERSATION with Frank Ticheli about JOY and JOY REVISITED

A Manhattan Beach Media Publication

S K I M M I N G the

T O P

How to Find the New Masterworks

by

by

Dr. Jeffrey D. Gershman

Dr. John Darling American Schools helping meet the

WINNERS

American Families we honor you

of the

FRANK TICHELI COMPOSITION CONTEST

a L O O K at

Ticheli’s

Nitro

photo by Charlie Grosso

by D r. Ke i t h K i n d e r

Dr. Keith Kinder takes a look at the FIRST PRIZE WINNING PIECES

T E A C H I N G from the

P O D I U M by

Gregory B. Rudgers

UNTOLDTHOUSANDS THOUSANDSTORTURED TORTUREDAND AND UNTOLD

MASS SLAUGHTER AND RAPE

GENOCIDEIS ISHAPPENING HAPPENINGRIGHT RIGHTNOW NOW GENOCIDE HUMANRIGHTS RIGHTSABUSES ABUSES HUMAN

EDUCATEOTHERS OTHERSABOUT ABOUTDARFUR DARFUR EDUCATE

The United Nations has described Sudan’s Western Region as one of the World’s Worst Humanitarian Crises

SEND A MESSAGE TO ALL WORLD LEADERS

AIDTHE THEPEOPLE PEOPLEOF OFDARFUR DARFUR AID

SAVE DARFUR

ETHNIC MASS CLEANSING ATROCITIES

SO MANY ARE SUFFERING

SCHOOLS HELPING AMERICAN SCHOOLS HELPING 2.5 MILLION DISPLACEDAMERICAN AMERICAN FAMILIES AMERICAN FAMILIES YOUR HELPAND FAMILIES ALL OVER THE IS DESPERATELY NEEDEDAND FAMILIES ALL OVER THE NOW

WORLD WORLD

Educate Others 400,000 PEOPLE DEAD About the Ongoing Genocide Your Art. Your Music. in Darfur Your Concerts.

Your Videos.

How Will History Your Multimedia Events Judge US? Can Help Raise Awareness This ad is presented as a public service by Manhattan Beach Media

About Darfur.

Your Yourhelp helpisisstill stilldesperately desperatelyneeded. needed.

Please Pleaseperform performboth bothworks worksto tobenefit benefitthose thoseaffected affectedby by

Hurricane Hurricane Katrina Katrina Amazing Grace & Our American Heroes

American Schools Helping American Families

Have Havethe themost mostimportant importantconcert concertof ofyour yourlife, life,

and andthen thenhave haveanother. another. for information on receiving your free band sets of Amazing Grace by Frank Ticheli & Our American Heroes by Steve Rouse

please visit

AmericanSchoolsHelpingAmericanFamilies.org

Manhattan Beach Music

WILD NIGHTS! C O N C E R T

B A N D

FRANK TICHELI Wild Nights! Wild Nights!

Were I with thee, Wild Nights should be Our luxury!

Futile the winds To a heart in port, — Done with a compass, Done with the chart.

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Rowing in Eden!

Ah! the sea!

Might I but moor To-night in Thee!

Emily Dickinson

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The Winners of the 1st Frank Ticheli Composition Contest are announced in this Issue.

2nd international

is proud to announce the

Frank Ticheli

composition

contest

2nd

presented and sponsored by Manhattan Beach Music

Bob Margolis, Director, Manhattan Beach Music; Sponsor of the Frank Ticheli Composition Contest

for information about the

c o m p e t i t i o n

entr y form & r ules, visit ManhattanBeachMusic.com F r a n k T i c h e l i . c oTIMES m www. MBM

.com

visit www.FrankTicheli.com

C

oncert band music has evolved — the fruit of the partnership between composer and performer. Does any other large-ensemble medium offer such opportunity to so many composers?

More and more composers today are trying their hand at concert band music, and are composing for the sake of the art.

We invite you to enter this our 2nd contest. Here’s your chance to show your true colors! Join us and write the best work you have ever written.

Then enter it.

Executive Producer – Neil Ruddy

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for information visit www.FrankTicheli.com

for information visit www.ManhattanBeachMusic.com

E D I T O R ’ S

V I E W

…inspired players

I

magine for a moment your most profound musical experience. Perhaps it was the first time you played in some type of ensemble. Perhaps it was the first time you heard or performed a piece by Bach, Mozart, or Chopin. Maybe it was early in your career, conducting a band comprised of young eager musicians who hung on to every word you spoke, who understood every gesture you made— everyone looking forward with great anticipation to their first performance in front of a live audience. Somehow you were changed, transformed, energized — for the first time totally inspired. It’s the essence of feelings such as these in which, I believe, the secret of success lies. Whether you are a band director, composer, retailer, or publisher, there is a chain of responsibility in this business that ultimately affects your students and music departments. I believe that total inspiration should be the fuel that helps push the industry to even higher standards.

Sometimes inspiration can come from the most unexpected places. As you know, on August 29th, 2005, New Orleans was hit by a devastatingly destructive force, known as Hurricane Katrina. Just prior to Katrina, Manhattan Beach Music was in the midst of formulating a fundraising effort to help bring attention to one of humanity’s worst problems, world hunger. This effort included the band piece, Our American Heroes, by Steve Rouse, and a Frank Ticheli piece which had not as yet been chosen. A music video called “Our American Heroes” was to be a cornerstone of this effort, and it was already in postproduction. The inspiration for this project, however, came from yet another devastating event — 9/11.

I live in midtown Manhattan, and on that 11th day of September in 2001 for the first time in my life I felt totally powerless, grief-stricken, and afraid. Because I live so close

MBM 4

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Editor in Chief, Neil Ruddy

to the Empire State Building, a potential target, I knew I had to leave my home to join the thousands of people just below my kitchen window who themselves had been evacuated from the United Nations and other nearby potential targets.

What I discovered at street level was something that very few video cameras were able to fully capture that day, something that instantly put to rest my overwhelming sense of being powerless. That something was love. It was palpable, emanating from all, and all who were there felt it. In my heartbroken state I became totally inspired.

It was in this moment that I visualized creating some kind of fundraising effort to do something extra that could truly make a difference. So, on that day in August of 2005 when I saw on the TV the horror and devastation left

by Hurricane Katrina I knew I needed to do something to help empower others. So with a lot of help from the people I work with we quickly put a new fundraising effort into action, including advertisements and a website explaining how to order Hurricane Katrina Fundraising Sets.

That night, I couldn’t sleep at all. I was feeling a mixture of sorrow, exuberance, nervousness … nervous that no one would care enough to take part in MBM’s fundraising effort. I informed MBM that I wanted to be notified immediately, day or night, the moment we received our first order from a caring band director interested in receiving our fundraising sets. To put myself at ease I logged on to every music website I could find.

Publishers, retailers, and other music-related organizations, hoping to find similar offers or some kind of acknowledgment of the disaster that had just occurred. I found none. And to this day I have found none. This only further increased my anxiety of the moment. There was no way I would get any sleep that night.

Within hours of daybreak I received a call from MBM Director Bob Margolis saying some of the most beautiful words I have ever heard: “Someone just ordered our fundraising sets!”

And in that moment I went back in time to 9/11 on street level in midtown Manhattan, feeling the love, and once again, feeling totally inspired. I sobbed like a baby. Later that day, another request for the sets, and then another. They kept on coming and to date we have received hundreds upon hundreds of requests and have sent out hundreds upon hundreds of our fundraising sets, and still counting.

Neil Ruddy

Ri�er� � � �tonehen�� Gregory Rudgers’

7

a CONVERSATION with Frank Ticheli about JOY & JOY REVISITED

by Dr. John Darling

8

S K I M M I N G the T O P How to Find the New Masterworks

by Dr. Jeffrey D. Gershman

16

Helping out in New Orleans one year after

HU R R ICAN E K AT RI N A

by Band Director/Composer Jim Territo photo by Kylee Lynch

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ANNOUNCING FRANK

TICHELI’S

Music is much more than just mere merchandise like charcoal grills, screwdrivers, and flipflops. Publishers and retailers are selling an art form.

This is much more important than buying something for a buck and selling it for two. Our band directors and students need, and deserve, the best we have to offer, and no one should prevent this from happening. They need inspired composers, inspired publishers, and inspired retailers. And anything less is totally unacceptable.

C O N T E N T S

L I S T

26

meet the WINNERS of the

FRANK TICHELI COMPOSITION C O N T E S T. . . the envelo pe ple a se

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Think Small... it just might be the Smartest Thing you do.

by Dr. John Darling

the complete P R O G R A M N O T E S for Steve Rouse’s ENCHANTED ISLAND program notes by Dr. John Darling

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a L O O K at Frank Ticheli’s

NITRO

by Dr. Keith Kinder

Teaching from

the

M A N H AT TA N B E AC H M U S I C would like to thank all of the band directors and students who have participated, or who will participate in our H U R R I C A N E K AT R I N A fundraising campaign

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ManhattanBeachMusic.com MBM

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A Manhattan Beach Media Publication

48

Podium

by Gregory B. Rudgers

ManhattanBeachMusic.com

C O N T E N T S

54

NEIL RUDDY

Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Managing and Copy Editor BOB MARGOLIS Contributing Writers DR. JOHN A. DARLING, DR. JEFFREY D. GERSHMAN, DR. KEITH W. KINDER, BOB MARGOLIS, GREGORY B. RUDGERS, JIM TERRITO

Taking a look at

Additional Graphics and Art Direction ROBERT BENNETT

Allan McMurray’s “Kindred Spirits”disc #3

Authors and Advertisers may contact us at: editorial@mbmtimes.com advertising@mbmtimes.com

“Conducting from the Inside Out” series

by Bob Margolis

Copyright © 2007 Manhattan Beach Media. All Rights Reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior written permission of Manhattan Beach Media.

from the

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Music examples by permission of MANHATTAN BEACH MUSIC

Ri�er� � � �tonehen�� Gregory Rudgers’

Gra�e 1

Hearing RIDERS TO STONEHENGE, one can easily imagine mysterious horsemen advancing through the mist to the site of the ancient temple. My use of transposed Mixolydian combined with melodies built from perfect intervals helps create an aura of days gone by, while the driving and prevalent percussion rhythms suggest horses’ hooves pounding through the early morning grass.

This piece provides opportunities for young musicians to play music derived from their favorite note patterns. From the opening alternating eighth notes in the clarinet, trumpet, flute, and saxophone to the like-position note patterns in the trombone at measure 10 to the five-note pattern in the recurring modal melody, young players will discover a work constructed out of

the notes they love to play. And while the piece is suggested for beginning through first and second year players, it also gives the conductor an opportunity to introduce quite sophisticated musical concepts and compositional devices. The form of the piece is easily recognizable by the youngest of players. With some assistance from the conductor, they should be able to discern the repetition of melodies and how the melodies are derived one from the other. For example, the saxophone melody at measure 26 is a simple inversion of the trombone pattern in the opening measures; the melody first heard in flute, oboe, and trumpet at measure 18 appears in a syncopated version played by flute and clarinet at measure 56 (see examples 1 and 2). All of the melodies are closely related. (continued on p. 42)

B1 Example Flute Example H 2 (syncopated version of ex. 1)

Flute

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Jo� Jo� an� an� Jo� Jo� Re��s�te� Re��s�te�

photo by Charlie Grosso

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“Joy, and its companion piece, Joy Revisited, are the result of an experiment I have been wanting to try for many years: the creation of two works using the same melodic, harmonic, and expressive content. In other words, I endeavored to compose unidentical twins, two sides of the same coin – but with one major distinction: Joy was created with young players in mind, while Joy Revisited was aimed at more advanced players.”

Frank Ticheli

A Conversation with Frank Ticheli about Darling: From the program notes we learn that both pieces were written virtually at the same time. Was there a specific reason for this approach?

Darling: From the program notes we learn that both pieces were written virtually at the same time. Was there a specific reason for Ticheli: I had a lot of fun working on this theseapproach? two pieces. This was an experiment that I wanted to do for a long time. I thought to myself: “Has anyone ever attempted to do this before?” It seems Ticheli: had a lot ofthing fun working twosimultaneously pieces. This was an experiment that Iversions. wanted to like suchIan obvious – taking on an these idea and writing two different do for a long time. I thought to myself: “Has anyone ever attempted to do this before?” It seems likeThe such an obvious thing an idea simultaneously writingand twoShaker different versions.

D: closest example that–Itaking can think of isand John Zdechlik’s Chorale Dance and Chorale and Shaker Dance II. But those two versions were written several years apart, which D: The that can thinkversion of is John Chorale that and Zdechlik Shaker Dance grew outclosest of the example success of theI original and Zdechlik’s numerous requests createand an Chorale and Shaker Dance II. But those two versions were written several years apart, which easier for younger bands. grew out of the success of the original version and numerous requests that Zdechlik create an easier for younger bands.

T: Exactly; other than that piece, I don’t think it has ever been done this way. I thought it would Joy and Joy Revisited be interesting as a teaching tool for young musicians and as well as composers. The basic idea T: Exactly; that piece, don’t think it has ever been done thisand way.

I thought it would would be to other have athan teacher presentI the basic musical materials, themes episodes, then Both Joy and Joy Revisited are available the discussion that follows.

After we be interesting asexamination a teaching tool for young musicians and asthe well as composers. basic proceed with an of how a composer might use same material to The create twoidea would bepieces to have teacher present theAsbasic materials, themes andtalking episodes, by the different ofavarying you musical know, theme came to me on theabout day then of from Manhattan Beach Music. difficulty.

Joy is finished Joy my and Joy Reproceed with an examination of how a composer might use the same material to create two daughter’s birth and the theme came much as it is Darling presented in Joy Revisited. That’s what made John listedpiece as a pieces grade 2,ofsuitable for difficulty. even Dr. visited, weonhad conversation different varying AsI you know, came to me the day ofabout my in this so much fun; the choices that had to makethe in theme Joy that I didn’t have to another worry daughter’s theband theme Revisited. what Sanctuary, made Revisited. the youngest birth middleand school pro- came much as it is presented in Joy about Frank’sThat’s later release, this piece so much fun; the choices that I had to make in Joy that I didn’t have to worry about in to sitgrade down level with between Frank Ticheli grams, while Joy decisions Revisited is listed as a about and that conversation is included here Revisited.

D: Were your mostly the and two pieces? grade 3, suitable for even high school

discuss the unique circumstances sur-

as well. The goal of both conversations

D:When Were I’m yourcomposing decisions mostly grade level between theI’m twothinking pieces? about the age of the T: I’m notabout thinking specifically grade, rounding the simultaneous release of or campus band programs looking for help shed some in insight student. Can an eighth grader do this? For instance, getting back to was the to Main Theme, Joy,into it the T: When I’m I’m1]not thinking specifically grade, I’m thinking about the ofas the looks like thiscomposing [see Example and in Joy it goes [see example 2], age which again these two Revisited pieces. I’ve included alike side-thisbackground a lighter transition piece for programof each piece well as student. eighth grader do this? For instance, getting back to the Main Theme, in Joy, it is how it Can first an came to me. by-side form analysis ofitthe two like piecesthisprovide ming purposes. the Midwest conductors2], some guidance for looks like thisDuring [see Example 1] and in Joy Revisited goes [see example which again is how it first came to me. to help facilitate and clarify some of Convention, I had the opportunity

their own interpretive process.

Example 1, from Joy

Example 1 Example Example 2, 1 from Joy Revisited

Example 2

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Darling: From the program notes we learn that both pieces were written virtually at the same time. Was there a specific reason for this approach?

John Darling: Were your decisions mostly about grade level between the two pieces?

Frank Ticheli: When I’m composing I’m not thinking specifiTicheli: This was an experiment that I wanted to do for a long cally about grade levels; I’m thinking about the age of the time, and I had of fun doing I thought myself:choices “Has that Istudent. an eighth grader do Episode this? For instance, T: In Joya lot certainly.

Andit!there weretoother had toCan make.

For instance 1 in getting anyoneJoy attempted to do this before?”

Itwere seemsday likeas such themake.

Main Ththe eme, in Joy, itEpisode looksoflike1this came to me the same the Main Theme, but due to complexity T:ever InRevisited Joy certainly.

And there other choices that Iback hadtoto For instance in [see Example rhythmic off-beats, couldn’t use itday in Joy because wasn’t way to simplify thatthis [Ex. 2, an obvious thing — taking an Ito idea andthe simultaneously writing 1 onreally prior in Joy Revisited it goes Joy Revisited came me same as the Mainthere Theme, butpage] due and to any the complexity of like pattern without loosing the rhythm pattern itself.

And it wasn’t just rhythm issues, there were two diff erent versions. prior pg.], which again how it rst came tothat me. rhythmic off-beats, I couldn’t use it in Joy because there really wasn’t anyisway tofisimplify

instrument rangeloosing considerations too.pattern With Joy, it down a P4 making range issues pattern without the rhythm itself.I transposed And it wasn’t just rhythm issues,the there were more manageable.

The high the With flutes is the top note flutes inmaking [seeof Example 3]; instrument rangeexample considerations too.

Joy, I transposed it the down the range issues John Darling: The closest that I D caninthink of is John John for Darling: So ait P4 was aJoy matter simplifying the rhythms. where in Joy Revisited, it’s a high G [see Example 4].

I was really thinking about middle school more manageable.

The high D in the flutes is the top note for the flutes in Joy [see Example 3]; Zdechlik’s Chorale and Shaker Dance and Chorale and Shaker students.

I didn’t want toit’s geta too in the clarinets which is why their topmiddle note is only an in Joy highhigh G [see Example 4].either I wasTicheli: really No, thinking about Dance where II. But those twoRevisited, versions were written several years Frank there were other choicesschool I had to make, A. I didn’tI didn’t want towant pushtoitget at that level;inI the wasclarinets making either choices very is practically. students. too high which why their top note is only apart, stemming from the success of the original version and such as instrumental range considerations. Joy wasan taken down A. I didn’t want to push it at that level; I was making choices very practically.

Example 3, from Joy

Example 3 Example 3

Example 4, from Joy Revisited

Example numerous requests4that Zdechlik create an easier version for Example younger bands. 4

a perfect 4th to B-flat Major, making its tessitura and overall range more manageable for younger players. The high D in D: One thing new in Joy that isn’t in Joy Revisited is the percussion solo at measure 47. the flutes is their top note in Joy [see Example 3]; where in D: One thing new in Joy that isn’t in Joy Revisited is the percussion solo measure 47.

Joy Revisited Revisited, it’s aathigh G [see Example 4]. I was really Frank Ticheli: Exactly; I did just that, but all at once. I T: It’s always a good idea to gives those young students in the back something to do, but I also thinking about middle school students. I didn’t want thought it would interesting as a teaching toolthe forMain Theme Recapitulation. needed a be way to transition back to wasn’t logical T: It’s always a good idea to gives those young students in the back There something to ado, but I or also to go too high in the clarinets either, which is why their young musical musiciansway as well asuse composers.

The basic section idea to the hocket-like that leads to the recap in Joy Revisited, so again I needed a way to transition back to the Main Theme Recapitulation. There wasn’t a logical or top note is only an A. I was making very practical choices. would needed be to allow teachers a chance to present the basic something practical. musical way to usemore the hocket-like section that leads to the recap in Joy Revisited, so again I musicalneeded materials, themes and episodes, then proceed something more practical.

There areofa how lot of teachingmight points especially Darling:for Oneyounger thing newstudents. in Joy that isn’t in Joy with anD:examination a composer usethat the can be made in Joy,John Revisited is the percussion solo atstudents. measure 47. same material to create piecespoints of varying D: There are atwo lot diff of erent teaching that can be made in Joy, especially for younger T: Certainly.

For instance, I contemplated not having the contrary motion in the Episode and just difficulty. As you know, the theme came to me on the day the ascending line. came [see example Buthaving then I the decided that motion itTicheli: was just much fun it young T: Certainly.

For instance, I contemplated contrary in the Episode and just Frank It’s atoo good idea to giveand those of my having daughter’s birth and the theme much as it is5]not needed to be in both.

It was little things like that where I was consciously making choices, not having ascending line. made [see example that itinwas much to fun students the just back too something do,and but itI also presented in Joythe Revisited.

That’s what this piece so5] But then I decided just because it would be easier, but that it would be different – more direct.

It wasn’t just needed to be in both.

It was little consciously making choices, not Theme Reneeded a way to transition back to the Main thatthings I didn’tlike havethat where I was much fun; the choices I had to make in Joy practical things I was thinking about – I wanted them to have different identities as much as just because it would be easier, but that it would be different – more direct. wasn’torjust capitulation.

There wasn’t It a logical musical way to use the to worry about in ‘Revisited’. possible. practical things I was thinking about – I wanted them to have different identities as much as hocket-like section that leads to the recap in Joy Revisited, so

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again I needed something different and more practical.

John Darling: There are a lot of teaching points that can be made in Joy, especially for younger students.

Theme 2 in Joy is a two-voice texture where in Joy Revisited [at measure 48] it is a three-voice texture, and you’re not using standard chords here. [See Example 6 overleaf ]

Frank Ticheli: Yes. For instance, I contemplated not having the contrary motion in the Episode and just having the ascending line. [See Example 5] But then I decided that it was just too much fun and kept in both. It was little things like that where I was consciously making choices, not just because

Frank Ticheli: Right. I was thinking more of a floating, pan-diatonic structure that avoids strongly functional chords. You can also see that this section has been rescored because of the range issues that occur with the transposition of the key.

Example 5

Example 5 D: Because of because the additional Episodes in Joy Revisited, you have the opportunity foreshadow they would be easier, but they John Darling: Itolike the fact that Theme 2 [at measure 18]. would be different – more direct. I wanted you use mutes at [measure 18 in the two versions to have distinct identities.

Joy] even at the easier grade level.

T: I was looking for something very slow to provide contrast to the rhythmic element and that would be just a hint of the melody without giving away all of Theme 2. If you look at the John Darling: Through the additional Frank Ticheli: it’s never structure of Theme 2, it goes up and down by a P4 in many different places, whichI think is seen in the Episodesclarinet in Joy Revisited, such as the one too early to start teaching younger part, the foreshadowing, at measure 18.

occurring at measure 18, you created an performers how to adjust, what to opportunity to foreshadow the second listen for,texture and thewhere list goesinon.

But D: This accompanying harmonic structure to Theme 2 in Joy is a two-voice Joy you’re not using standard chords here. theme. Revisited [at measure 48] it is a three-voice texture, and I partially eliminated another intonation problem [see example 6] in Joy at measure 39 by placing the melody on Frank Ticheli: I was looking for something less active to prothe inside of the texture, where in Joy Revisited vide contrast but also hint at the second theme. If you look at the tune is on the outside in the piccolo part. I also the structure of Theme 2 in the clarinet parts, it ascends and gave the 2nd clarinets the option of playing their descends by a perfect 4th. But by measure 19 and 20, it picks notes an octave up if they have the confidence up again, foreshadowing the theme that eventually enters in and skill to play them. If all the 2nd clarinets can measure 38. play the upper octave, that’s even better because the saxophones and horns have the lower octave John Darling: The accompanying harmonic structure to covered. But then there are a lot of things www. MBM

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D: This accompanying harmonic structure to Theme 2 in Joy is a two-voice texture where in Joy Revisited [at measure 48] it is a three-voice texture, and you’re not using standard chords here. [see example 6] Example 6, from Joy Revisited

Examplefrom 6 Joy as well. For instance the entire passage removed beginning at measure 76 in Joy Revisited was omitted from Joy due its smaller structure.

John Darling: One other thing not in Joy is the pointillistic passage at measure 71 in Joy Revisited Revisited.

Frank Ticheli: This provides a great teaching opportunity.

It’s never too early to start exposing young players to more contemporary concepts. Pointillism has been around for a very long time now! It would be a shame to find such techniques only in the more advanced compositions for bands.

I was glad that I could include this moment because you also get the sudden color changes and the odd phrase lengths with two beats lopped off — all of the things you see in traditional development sections.

John Darling: issues that you

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There are other normally don’t

find in a piece composed for younger bands, such as the sudden change in articulation styles. [measures 12–14 in Joy] Frank Ticheli: Right. The ability to turn on a dime from a heavy marcato style of playing to a very legato articulation isn’t so easy for young players, but there isn’t any reason to deny them the opportunity to begin thinking about these kinds of performance issues. Again, I have to ask, “Can an eighth grader handle this?” I think they can. There is also something that we are doing a little different here at Chicago for the concert tonight. In measures 106 to 110, [in Joy Revisited], I wasn’t getting enough of the off-beat eighth-note from the timpani part. So I’m having the bass clarinets, tubas and 2nd and 3rd trombones substitute their offbeat rests for B-flats, essentially doubling the timpani part. I didn’t get to that change in time for the printing so I’ll have to make sure that gets on the website errata sheet.

John Darling: There is a moment in Joy Revisited (measure 86–89) that reminded me a lot of a similar moment in Sun Dance. You used a similar structure to set up both recapitulations of the Main Themes.

Frank Ticheli: Right, but the context is different for each piece.

And look at this stuff [at measure 24 in Joy and measure 44 in Joy Revisited].

You know that the piece I was working on before these two was my Symphony [Symphony No. 2] and you’ll see the same ascending perfect 4th and descending minor 3rd throughout the Symphony. Every piece has a little bleed-over into the next.

John Darling: There were the contrary lines in the Symphony as well.

Frank Ticheli: That’s right — I just like that kind of technique, and as I said earlier, I’m glad I decided to leave it in, because it helps to reinforce the implied 3/4 meter. You’ll find the minor scale fragments in the Symphony, too. The trick is to stay true to the character of the piece and help it preserve its own identity so it doesn’t end up sounding like everything else.

John Darling: That is why I continue to enjoy your music. You put the same amount of care into a grade 2 piece like Portrait of a Clown as you do for your most advanced pieces like the Symphony or Gaian Visions. Speaking of grade levels, Joy is a grade 2 and Joy Revisited is a grade 3.5?

Frank Ticheli: Oh I’d say Joy Revisited is easier that Sun Dance; maybe even easier than Fortress. But then Fortress has its own issues. There are one or two moments that are harder in Joy Revisited, but in general I don’t think it’s as tough.

The following is a list of possible teaching moments in Joy that might not otherwise be found in a grade 2 band composition:

Use of mutes (measures 18–28) Implied polymeters (measures 18–23) Imitative entrances (measures 24–28) Tempo changes (ritardando, Slower Tempo, accelerando, Tempo 1) Percussion section solo (measures 47–50) Recapitulation in a new setting (measure 51) Timpani solo (measures 68–73) Glissando in xylophone (measure 74) John Darling: Could you please say a few words about one of your newest pieces, Sanctuary?

Frank Ticheli: It was composed for Bob Reynolds and commissioned by the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association (MSBOA) in honor of Bob Reynolds. The premiere was given by the University of Michigan Symphony Band on October 22, 2005, with Michael Haithcock conducting and with Bob Reynolds in the audience. MSBOA wanted me to write a piece for his retirement, which was about three years ago now. Unfortunately I had to inform them that I was sorry but I was too involved with other commissions to take another one at that time. MSBOA called back and said that Bob said he could wait. So I finally found some time to devote to this project. Unlike Postcard, Sanctuary is at the other end of the spectrum. Postcard was commissioned by Bob for his mother.

This one was going to be about Bob, so I was thinking of a couple of things to do with this particular piece. Since Bob is a horn player, I came up with the idea of an extended horn solo, almost like a horn concertino. The piece is almost eleven minutes long and the horn soloist is featured in many sections.

The prologue starts off with Bob’s initials: Harrah, where ‘h’ is represented by the note B-natural and the ‘r’ is “re” from the solfège system.

John Darling: You used the same technique in Postcard.

Scale passages with leaps of a thirds (Main Theme) Mixolydian mode (throughout) Sudden dynamics changes (measures 5, 10, 46, 54, 70, 73) Grace notes (measures 10, 12, 59, 61) Contrasting articulation styles (measures 9 to 10, 12 to 13, 38 to 39, 58 to 59, 61 to 62)

Frank Ticheli: Yes, but this time the notes are transposed so that the written pitches in the horn are ‘baddab’ [Harrah], not the sounding pitches. And it only appears in the second measure, like a hidden signature! Like Hitchcock’s fleeting cameo shot in each of his films!

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The idea of a lyrical horn solo came partly out of my fond memories of playing under Bob’s baton at the University of Michigan and seeing him conduct so many times pieces like Colonial Song. He is just wonderful at conducting that kind of music. Those memories influenced the expressive ‘DNA’ of the piece at some level. When you see and hear the piece, it doesn’t sound like Grainger at all, but the tone of the piece salutes Bob’s talent for communicating deeply felt music to his performers.

and solid, like a fortress. After I found the title, I decided to put a huge climax in the middle, which is meant to represent something extremely powerful and strong. There’s a yearning quality to the whole progression.

John Darling: Did you have formal studies or lessons with Bob?

John Darling: So many people don’t even talk about the golden mean or the Fibonacci concept to composition any more.

Frank Ticheli: No, I just played trumpet in his Symphony Band. I was a composition major so I was only able to play when my schedule allowed it—a semester here, a semester there.

Frank Ticheli: I consciously thought about that and even worried about it. Did I create a second half of the composition that was going to be too long? I even thought about editing a bit of it out and I’m glad I didn’t. What this represents is a challenge to the conductor to communicate something new and convincing to the listener in the second half of the piece.

They have to be careful not to let the climax be the final statement. There is some new material, a flute solo that gives way to a clarinet solo, representing a bird call passage, before I bring back the Main Theme. So there is something old and something new in the second half. That’s going to be a tricky thing for performers and conductors. The intonation is going to be tough as well because the texture is very transparent and sustained.

John Darling: Talk about the simple harmonic progression that pervades the work.

Frank Ticheli: The little progression came when I was just messing around with a completely different piece with a straightforward tune. The tune itself didn’t do much for me so I discarded the piece entirely, but the harmony kept haunting me. It’s a simple little three-chord progression: A-flat major, up to C minor, back down to B-flat major. I voiced the chords with the perfect fifth on the bottom and the third of the chord on top, creating a major tenth on the outside (A-flat, E-flat, C). I move up to the C minor in the same configuration, and then down to the B-flat chord, but I hang onto the note E-flat, creating the dissonance between the 4th and the 3rd. That forms the heart of the whole piece—that chord progression with the suspension that doesn’t resolve. I was so captivated by its simplicity that I decided not to rely too much on development and rely more on a meditative repetition that is almost mantra-like. The result is a piece that is the most private, inward looking piece I’ve ever composed for wind band. In a way, it’s like An American Elegy, but more private, where American Elegy is more public in nature. So the title fits so perfectly.

A sanctuary can be something that is private, a place of protection, or a place for prayer. It can also be a place that is strong

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John Darling: Is this an arc form?

Frank Ticheli: Pretty much. The climax is just about in the exact middle. It’s not at the golden mean or anything like that.

John Darling: Are there many chamber moments?

Frank Ticheli: A lot! The opening prologue is very chamber-like. A lot of bell sounds and the horn solo that gives way to a clarinet solo. There are tiny solos all the way through the prologue. I am very happy with this piece. When I write a new piece, I always try to make it different from what I’ve done before. It’s getting harder as I get older because I don’t want to just rehash something I’ve already given an identity to. If that were to start happening, I would probably stop composing. And it may happen some day, but so far, I’ve been able to find new sounds in every new piece that allows them to stand on their own and not be part 2 or a sequel to something I composed earlier—unless I want to do it of course, as I did with Joy and Joy Revisited. 

JOY REVISITED

JOY measure nos.

measure count

FORM

measure nos. meas. count

1–17 (1–13)

17 (13)

Main Theme

1-13

13

absent

absent

Episode 1

14-21

8

absent

absent

Development

22-37

16

18-27

10

Episode [2]

38-47

10

28-38

11

Theme 2

48-58

11

39-50

12

Episode [3]

59-70

12

absent

absent

Main Theme Pointillistic

71-75

5 (repeated)

absent

absent

Episode 2

76-89

14

47-50

4

Percussion solo

absent

absent

51-67

17

Main Theme Recapitulation

90-105

16

68-74

7

Coda

106-113

8

The breakdown and definition of the forms can be found in the composer’s program notes of each score. The sections marked “absent” are those instances where that particular form only appears in one or the other piece. With the first appearance of the Main Theme, measures 1-13 are paralleled in both versions, hence the parenthetical numbers. In Joy, Ticheli did not label the Episodes numerically, but he did in Joy Revisited; hence the bracketed numbers. The purpose of the measure count is to help illustrate the similarities between the two versions. Notice that the Main Theme, Episode [2], Theme 2, Episode [3], Main Theme Recapitulation, and the Coda all have the same or similar measure counts. However, the apparent similarities end there, as our conversation illustrates.

For information about The Music of Frank Ticheli, to hear Complete Recordings And To Download Free Scores Please Visit

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Skimming the Top

Dr. Jeffrey D. Gershman

I

How to Find the New Masterworks

t was my end-of-the-summer ritual. The day that, in my mind, school actually began.

I would walk to the file cabinet and pull open the drawer where that year’s crop of promotional recordings had been waiting, take a deep breath, and begin to listen. And it was always the same. Day 1: Listen for hours and find one quality piece. Day 2: Listen for hours and find one quality piece. Day 3: Listen for hours and find one quality piece.

It was my own personal Groundhog’s Day. It didn’t take long before the reality of our profession presented itself: there is an epidemic of mediocrity in new music being written for band and there is no end in sight. I’m not naïve, I understand the reasons. Producing and distributing new works of artistic merit is often not the principal concern of every music publishing company. Some companies hire their composers on volume contracts in which they are asked to write a specific amount of pieces for specific grade levels for each year. And, because there may be no quality control except for the conscience of the composer, the majority of our new music — especially music aimed at less advanced ensembles — has become generic and formulaic because of the sheer number of works these composers are asked to produce. What’s worse is that since so much of this music sounds the same, it’s hard not to get lulled into lowering our standards when we hear something that’s even slightly different from the norm. It’s precisely because of this subtle dilution of our expectations that I believe we need to establish some very clear, objective criteria by which to measure our new music.

This system of judgment should be no different than the criteria we use to evaluate the hallmarks of our own repertoire. Anything less stringent is a disservice to our students and to our medium. The only way to break this cycle of mediocrity is to identify and perform new works that embody the standards of our very best music. It is time to show music publishers through our actions that we will no longer settle.

I believe that there are six criteria that should be employed in the assessment of new music. While all six may not be applicable to every work, these criteria still provide us with a consistent framework by which to evaluate new music at any level of difficulty. The six criteria are: instrumental independence, melodic shape, harmonic language, creative orchestration, compositional structure, and compositional craft.

I N S T R U M E N TA L I N D E P E N D E N C E

Instrumental independence, the idea that all parts have the ability to play independent lines, is a compositional fundamental that is often lost in today’s music. So many of the new pieces today play it safe by giving entire instrument sections the same music. Do you find that your third clarinets don’t really project? No problem, there’s only one clarinet part. Are your lower horns having a hard time finding the right partials? That’s OK, they can match to your section leader because they’re all playing the same part. If you think I’m kidding, pick up a score to a new concert overture and count the number of independent parts the composer has written. I doubt that you’ll get to four. This is inexcusable in music for younger bands and insulting in music for advanced ensembles. One of the maxims of our profession is that nothing makes a player grow and mature more quickly than playing chamber music because of the independent responsibility of each part to the ensemble.

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Shouldn’t these same principles hold true in an ensemble setting? While there’s no doubt that block scoring may be easier to teach, hiding our students from exposure to error impedes the progress of those who need it the most — the players at the bottom of our sections. In addition to hindering our students’ improvement, the unfortunate byproduct of this disregard for instrumental independence is that the texture of the music often never varies. This is most evident with the plethora of generic lyrical works in which the entire ensemble is divided into either melody, countermelody, or supporting harmony. This may produce stagnant, bland music that, because the entire ensemble is nearly always playing, never offers any sort of musical apex because of its loud dynamics and unchanging textures.

MELODIC SHAPE

Melodic shape is perhaps the most subjective of the criteria to be discussed. And while there is no doubt that there are myriad ways a composer can create a memorable melody, there are trends that litter the melodic landscape of mediocre music. Perhaps you’re familiar with this formula: Step 1: Play a generic, triadic fanfare opening, written in four measure phrases. The fourth measure must contain a long note with a sfzp and a crescendo for the required woodwind ascending sixteenth note run. Step 2: Establish a catchy, syncopated one-measure ostinato (to allow for rote teaching). Step 3: Introduce a predictable antecedent/consequent melody. Melody must have long notes in both the fourth and eighth measures to ensure either a) a soaring horn counterline or b) an ascending woodwind sixteenth note run. Step 4: Repeat predictable antecedent/consequent melody. Step 5: Present a transitional passage of four measures with a four measure sequence leading, of course, to Step 6: Repeat predictable antecedent/consequent melody. In addition to this tired formula, less advanced pieces often feature additional problems.

You have the square, lightly syncopated pop-oriented melody, so predictable that after the first four measures, you can sing its conclusion despite never having heard it. Or, you have the maudlin lyric melody that was seemingly plucked out of an after-school special. Are the composers who choose to employ these melodic formulas assuming that the students aren’t smart

or introspective enough to enjoy a melody of substance, a melody that might take them more than one reading to appreciate? I urge you to look for new works in which the melody isn’t shackled into an eight measure phrase.

Look for melodies that explore chromaticism, that aren’t afraid to be angular, or that have a natural arch with an arrival point. Our job is to broaden our students’ music world outside of their own personal tastes with music that rises to the intellectual capacities of our students.

H A R M O N I C L A N G UA G E

Much like melodic shape, evaluating a composer’s harmonic language is largely subjective. But again, as with melodic shape, just as there are many differDay 1: Listen for ent approaches to creating hours and find effective and interesting one quality piece. harmonic language, there Day 2: Listen for are very distinct trends hours and find that seem to be consistent throughout music of one quality piece. questionable artistic merDay 3: Listen for it. The first is that much of our hours and find new band music relies on preone quality piece. dictable, overly-simple harmoIt was my own nies and harmonic progressions.

I readily admit that our students, personal especially the less advanced ones, Groundhog’s Day. need to have a foundation of traditional major and minor harmonies to develop their aural skills in the harmonic tradition of Western music. However, despite what much of today’s band music tells us, we no longer live in the 18th century. Much of this music never strays past chords and progressions found in the opening chapters of an elementary theory text. If audiences grew bored of these same harmonies three hundred years ago, why should our students be any more interested now? The second trend is aimed almost exclusively at less advanced students and takes its cue from popular music, with composers replicating the same elemental chord progressions found often in Top 40 music. In either case, there seems to be an overriding philosophy that our students, because they’re younger, need to be fed a diet of diluted harmonic language. Is it really outside any of our students’ (even the youngest of players) technical capaciwww. MBM

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ties to play chords with dissonance, with added tones, or with unexpected harmonic progressions? Is it really beyond any of our students’ intellectual abilities to understand and appreciate sophisticated harmonies? The answer in both cases is no. The only thing preventing our students from creating and developing a new, 21st century harmonic vocabulary is that part of the music publishing industry that largely assumes that they’re too immature to understand. That assumption is insulting and our students deserve better.

C R E AT I V E O R C H E S T R AT I O N

Have you ever listened to a promotional CD and come away with the feeling that all of the pieces sound virtually the same — just the same song packaged at several different difficulty levels? While the composers’ choices of melody and harmony obviously contribute to this, I believe that the principal reasons for this sameness are overused, uninspired orchestrational choices. The band has the potential to be a remarkably colorful and vibrant ensemble, but so often today, orchestration feels like an afterthought. What should be a pivotal step in the compositional process is often dictated by function instead of inspiration. Do we really need to hear the alto saxophones doubling the horn parts again? Must the bass clarinet, baritone sax, and tuba always play the same part? This obedience to function is unfortunately apparent in more than just doublings, as it often permeates nearly every aspect of the orchestrational process. Perhaps the most glaring example is the composer’s attention to the percussion section.

Of all the sections in our ensembles, the percussion instruments offer the most colorful array of timbres.

But this limitless palette of sounds is rarely exploited because many composers are preoccupied that each percussionist be constantly engaged to prevent them from becoming restless. So what happens is that composers create functional percussion parts as an addendum to the wind parts. The percussion section has, with alarming frequency, become a casualty of function. You’ve heard it far too many times. Snare drum plays a repeated ostinato, bass drum plays on every beat, timpani takes care of the crescendo roll on the V7-I progression, and bells get to play the simplified version of the flute part. Band music can

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quickly go from sounding generic to unique and colorful when the composer takes the time to integrate these unique timbres into the fabric of the wind textures. Unfortunately, this type of orchestration requires a substantial investment of time and, with composer quotas to be met, volume ultimately wins over craft.

M

y other frustration with the orchestration of much of today’s new band music is the composer’s choice of solo instruments. I very much appreciate new music giving our students the opportunity to be featured in short solos from within the piece. But from what I can derive from most promotional CDs, the only instruments that are allowed to play solos are the flute, clarinet, alto saxophone, and trumpet. All others need not apply. Once again, function trumps inspiration. I fully understand that most bands have at least one strong player on each of these instruments, but shouldn’t the timbre of the solo be dictated by what the music demands? Gustav Holst chose to write a euphonium solo in the first movement of his Second Suite in F because he thought that the euphonium was the perfect timbre to convey the music, not because it was the “safe” choice. Listen to the slow middle section of almost any new concert overture, regardless of the level of difficulty, and see how much care was put into choosing the solo instrument. After the soft woodwind chords and the obligatory wind chimes, my guess is that one of these four instruments is about to make a nice, safe, uninteresting appearance. For composers of merit, orchestration is not an afterthought, but a vital part of the compositional process. If we are to escape this rut of the generic “band” sound, we need to embrace the music of composers who fully exploit the unique timbres inherent in our ensembles.

COMPOSITIONAL STRUCTURE

Form. Throughout the evolution of Western classical music it has largely been the foundation on which everything else is built. From this large structure spring the melodies, harmonies, compositional techniques, and orchestration that make each composer unique. Composers of wind music from Handel to

interchangeable, tunes that can be plugged in wherever needed.

Mozart to Grainger have been able to innovate from within Pull an upbeat, catchy tune from Column A, take a sentimental, these established forms to craft the cornerstones of our medilyric tune from Column B, add a couple of fermatas, slap it toum. After almost three hundred years of innovation, it’s then gether, and put it on the stands. Gone is any actual thematic deamazing to me that a large portion of today’s band music can velopment. And, on the rare occasion when a composer inserts be boiled down to three simple letters: A B A. Could there a short canon or a simple fugue, it seems less for developmental possibly be three more tired letters in all of contemporary band reasons and more because the piece needed to be thirty seconds music? It doesn’t matter what they call it. It can be a Sojourn, a longer. What now substitutes for development in most new Holiday, a Rhapsody, or a Legend. Whatever the descriptor in band music is the sectional repeat, which normally its title, you’re still about to listen to the same recycled A B A piece. What is most frustrating After almost three features a verbatim restatement of melodic material and the introduction of a technical woodwind line isn’t so much the frequency that this form is hundred years (of course doubled by multiple sections) the secused, but the blatant apathy shown by composof innovation, it’s ond time. Perhaps nowhere else is today’s climate of ers who don’t even try to make the form appear then amazing to volume-based music composition and publishing seamless. Most works of artistic merit have a more evident than the large-scale deterioration of a well defined form, but their structure isn’t openme that a large sound compositional structure. ly apparent because the composer has carefully portion of today’s blended their music into these confines. This band music can COMPOSITIONAL CRAFT fact is reinforced by composers with whom I’ve be boiled down to spoken who constantly attest that one of the three simple letCompositional craft is the final criteria for eshardest things to do is to craft effective transiters: A B A. Could tablishing new works of artistic merit. It is also, tions so their music can meld unnoticed into perhaps, the hardest to actually quantify, because the next section. This is in marked contrast to there possibly be it is truly a composite of instrumental indepenmany of today’s composers, who are willing three more tired dence, melodic shape, harmonic language, creative servants to these confines, spitting out piece letters in all of orchestration, and compositional structure. Simply after piece with music that is unapologetically contemporary put, the music should demonstrate a certain level jammed into its structure. The form is always band music? of true compositional prowess and craftsmanship. made painfully obvious—all you have to do is Craftsmanship implies a personal integrity—that listen for the ritardando and the fermata at the the composer respects the process of composition by producing end of the A section and for the slow drag of the wind chimes as music that is built both on the exacting standards found in the the ever-present harbinger of the B section. There are, of course, best of our repertoire and on the individual stamp of the comfine contemporary composers who create works in which the poser’s training and experience. While there are no shortcuts in form is a quiet framework on which their music evolves. It is craftsmanship, there are certainly ways that lesser music diverts my suspicion that the composers who insist on broadcasting our attention away from it. Some promotional CDs try to distheir form either lack the skill or, more likely, the time, to create tract us with booming voiceover artists spouting adjective-laden these seamless transitions. verbiage about the quality of the music, titling the works with by adding ‘ada’, ‘oso’, or ‘ium’ to distinguished sounding nouns.

Perhaps not as outwardly evident, but still equally problemThey try to disguise their mediocrity with flawless performances atic, is the lack of thematic integration and development in by professional ensembles. And finally, they hide flawed craft betoday’s music. If we are to judge our future masterworks by hind flashy, movie-inspired orchestration. Behind all the bangthe standards established in our cornerstones, then we should ing percussion and heroic horn rips, behind all the descriptive expect composers to create music that is thematically unified. titles filled with Greek gods and mythical monsters, behind all The organic quality of composition—the idea of music growthe slick marketing and packaging, what is left is the musical ing and evolving from a single idea or even a small group of equivalent of a candy bar. All style, no substance. Ear Candy. unified ideas, is being practiced by precious few today. In its (continued on page 22) place, many composers write and stockpile generic, seemingly www. MBM

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Helping out in New Orleans one year after

Hurricane Katrina, by band director/composer

Jim Territo

B

efore I actually went, it wasn’t so hard for

chilling to see firsthand. Woody Allen once described comedy as tragedy plus distance; when tragedy is not so distant, things me to hold a callous attitude towards people aren’t funny. St. Bernard Parish could have been my hometown; who would choose to live below sea level, bethe neighborhoods, the strip malls, the economic divide. We’ve had our share of bad news in the hind levees that had been Detroit area, but I’ve never seen predicted to be inadequate anything like this.

In June everything was broken, for decades. barely anyone was around. And It was even easier to be callous, everything was staying broken because there were no people to if not bitter, about the time it fix things, to do the heavy lifting, seemed to be taking to rebuild to get things organized, to open the city. Where is the federal up businesses, to patronize those businesses. Imagine being a disgovernment in sorting out all of located resident . Maybe you’ve this? What is the municipal govbeen relocated and started a new life. Why go back to someplace ernment doing? Where are the where everything is broken and residents — why can’t they come barely anyone is around?

On the drive down, I passed back and roll up their sleeves? a field in Mississippi with thouBut being there gave me a new resands of FEMA trailers just sitting spect for Hurricane Katrina’s power. there. I had heard later from a It showed no mercy, lifting houses contractor in Florida that building Again, this is something I off their foundations, flipping cars, covering evmaterials in the area had been commandeered erything in inches of putrid mud. And now, in heard about on the news to hook these trailers up to utilities, which June 2006, ten months after the storm, for mile slowed private reconstruction efforts. The dethat was much more upon mile residences and businesses were either cision turned out to be a bitter embarrassment chilling to see firsthand. destroyed and still waiting to be cleared away, or when the residents didn’t come rushing back. barely salvageable, yet still waiting to be salvaged.

Woody Allen once deThere are many stories like this of expensive Each house was marked with spray-panted miscalculation, miscommunication, and corscribed comedy as tragsymbols indicating the name of an inspecting orruption. Back home in Pontiac, I would hear ganization, the date, and whether any bodies were edy plus distance; when about fundraisers to help with reconstruction found on inspection. Again, this is something I tragedy is not so distant, efforts, but here, seeing the tangled mess some heard about on the news that was much more operations had become made me sad for all the things aren’t funny.

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“Raising the Flag.” Photo by Kylee Lynch.

Pictured (L to R) are Robert Tobin, David Belch, Victor Tucker, and author Jim Territo. The flag was discovered in the ruins of the house. The author writes, “we thought the flag, which stayed up the whole time we were there, was oddly symbolic, kind of like Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Star Spangled Banner’ at Woodstock. I like to think it says that we as a country have it in us to do good things, but we need to make our way through some garbage first.”

American goodwill that could be going to waste. As a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, I was concerned that my work might be a fool’s errand — if this city really is dying.

When I returned to the flood zone in August, it became apparent that people really were doing the hard work of reviving the area. The process just needs time to build up momentum.

The debris piles and abandoned cars were being cleared away.

And residents were moving in to FEMA trailers while they rebuilt, utilities were coming back on, businesses opening up.

There is a long way to go, but there is real and tangible progress and a ‘can-do’ attitude among residents.

There were residents I met who said their whole neighborhood was empty just a couple of months earlier, but the neighbors all kept in touch, and once a few had moved back, the

others all talked themselves into it. I met an old man named Richard living in a FEMA trailer, A WWII Veteran and former prizefighter, who had taken in a lady who lost her home and was still waiting for her own trailer. My Habitat for Humanity team was helping him clear debris out of his house so he could rebuild it. He cried and thanked us when we left. I met a guy named Turtle who came down to help as soon as the storm waters cleared. He lived out of his car and, in exchange for meals, helped people gut their houses; he eventually hooked up with the volunteers at Camp Hope, where I stayed. A man named Tom, who used to make a sizeable income managing operations at a giant mall outside of New York City, walked away from that position to manage volunteer operations in the area (which he did with impressive efficiency). There were a lot of www. MBM

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college-age kids in the area from all over the country who were crowding if people come back in large numbers before June affiliated with organizations like Emer2007; there are many sticky problems With the distance that time can create, New gency Communities, which provide food like this.

Orleanians have found comedy in tragedy. and shelter where they are needed, and While the area will continue to need We heard a resident at a karaoke joint sing AmeriCorps, where young adults provide American goodwill to recover, I would the Scorpions’ 80s hit “Rock you like a Hurcommunity service for a year while the caution anyone who wanted to give ricane”.

Th e shops up and down Bourbon St. program takes care of their basic needs. money for recovery efforts to look into display T-shirts with all manner of FEMA/ I also met volunteers from all over things and make sure your money will Katrina-related raunchy jokes.

One man America; church and Jewish Commugo where it is really needed. Corruption sported a bumper sticker on his truck that nity Center groups, high school groups, and miscommunication are everywhere. read “New Orleans – Proud to swim home.” construction professionals, and people However, real, honest hard work, love Th e live music scene is still vibrant.

We with wildly different stories from all for one’s neighbor, and triumph over adstopped at places where house bands played walks of life who genuinely want to versity are easy to find in New Orleans. soul, country, rock (plugged and unplugged), help where they can. As it is, patriotism When history books mention briefly hip hop, funk, and Dixie jazz.

It didn’t matter runs thin in New Orleans, but if, as how the area was rebuilt after Katrina, it what night of the week it was, or how sparse Alexis de Tocquevile is reputed to have will be a testament to how well we as a the crowd was, every group we heard played said — “America is great because she is country grasped, or didn’t grasp, these with the kind of passion that reminded me good; and if America ever ceases to be virtues.  why I went into music for a living.

At Snug good, she will cease to be great” — then Jim Territo, composer, teaches Band and Harbor in the French quarter we saw jazz Music Theory at Detroit Country Day the men and women I met were an ensinger Betty Shirley and her virtuoso trio give School in Beverly Hills, Michigan. His couraging sign. an absolutely electric performance which “Fanfare: Chronicles 13:8”, was recently People coming back threatens to performed by the National Wind Ensemincluded a heart-wrenching interpretation cause as much trouble as it solves. For ble, and will be performed by the Southern of “Do You Know What it Means To Miss example, schools are combining mulCalifornia Honors Band. His most recent New Orleans?” Several local jazzers were in tiple student populations into a single Commission ”The Stormy Present”, for the the audience, and you could sense that the building, because students, teachers, James Brooks High School Band (Ramiro community of professional musicians has Barerra cond.) is a reflection on his time materials, and usable buildings are all maintained tight relationships. spent in Louisiana. in short supply. This will mean over-

(Gershman, Skimming The Top, continued from page 19) So, in the end, after all of this discussion, is it really that important that we take the time to search for new pieces of artistic merit—to skim the very top of the myriad new pieces that are written each year?

I firmly believe that there are very few things that we do as music educators that are more crucial than programming for our ensembles.

It is our responsibility to not only teach our

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I firmly believe that there are very few things that we do as music educators that are more crucial than programming for our ensembles. It is our responsibility to not only teach our students notes and rhythms, but to shape and elevate their musical tastes.

students notes and rhythms, but to shape and elevate their musical tastes. We are the ones entrusted with introducing music to the students that they won’t otherwise discover themselves. And it is because of this, that our duty must lie in educating our students, not in entertaining them. As a colleague of mine once astutely observed, if our English curriculum isn’t based on romance novels and comic books, then why do we

somehow allow our Band curriculum—the works that we perform—to include music of questionable artistic merit? When our students graduate from high school, the vast majority of them will never participate in organized music again. This means that the experiences they have in junior high school and high school band will alone shape their musical tastes outside of popular music for the rest of their lives. These musical tastes will be established solely by the music placed on their stands. To add further urgency, we have only a finite amount of pieces through which to establish these standards. As an example, when I taught high school, my ensemble performed about ten pieces of concert music a year. That gave me only forty chances to have my students gain an appreciation of quality classical music.

What happened in my band room largely determined if they would ever buy a classical CD, attend a live classical concert, or financially support the arts in any way. Because of this, putting anything less than the finest music of our medium in front of our students isn’t just lazy, it’s irresponsible. For the good of your students, and in many ways the future of classical music, I implore you to maintain only the highest of standards and to be unwavering in your expectations of our new masterworks.  Dr. Jeffrey D. Gershman is Director of Instrumental Activities at Texas A&M University–Commerce, where he conducts the Wind Ensemble and the Chamber Winds and teaches undergraduate and graduate conducting and wind literature courses. He is an active guest conductor and concert band clinician and a frequent guest lecturer at state and national conventions. Also an accomplished arranger, his band transcriptions include works by John Corigliano and Frank Zappa.

an Epic Masterwork

by Bob Margolis

Terpsichore

A bygone world, of fire & mystery, of Ancient revelry is here revealed...

23 minutes / Grade 6

The Muse of Dance, The Whirler, turns, And music’s fire More brightly burns.

The USC Thornton School of Music brings together a stellar faculty chosen from a broad spectrum of the music profession and musically gifted students from around the globe. Founded in 1884 and today the oldest continually operating cultural institution in Los Angeles, the USC Thornton School consistently ranks among the top one percent of the nation’s music schools and conservatories. Recognized as a major contributor to the musical vitality of Los Angeles and Southern California, the USC Thornton School is a very active producer of live music performances, with more than 500 concerts and recitals annually at USC and throughout the region. Graduates of the school attain positions with major orchestras, ensembles, recording studios and music industry ďŹ rms and perform on stages and in studios around the world.

Contact: USC Thor nton School of Music , Los Angeles, Califor nia 90089-0851 (213) 740-5389 uscmusic@usc .edu

FRANK

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Manhattan Beach Music is proud to announce

Frank Ticheli’s List ors, and we thank you for your countless acknowledgments which have made our job so much more enjoyable.

Choosing and programming high quality music is perhaps the single most important part of a band director’s responsibilities, for it is the music itself that will challenge, enlighten, and inspire all those who play it. If the music you start out with is mediocre, no amount of rehearsing will ever overcome this.

This list of pieces, which over time will evolve and expand, will be important and useful for all inspired band directors.

FRANK

We at Manhattan Beach Music have built our reputation on the high quality of music that we publish. In fact, when we had only 24 pieces in our entire catalog, the Texas Prescribed Music List committee included 19 of them on its list, a higher percentage than for any other publisher.

This year marks a milestone for MBM as we celebrate 25 years in the publishing industry. Our continued success is directly related to our outstanding publishing ethic. We are extremely grateful to all the band directors who have embraced our endeav-

TICHELI’S

It has often been said that, “you are what you eat.” This principle can indeed be applied to bands: You are what you play. It is the quality of the music itself that will ultimately decide what kind of band director and musician you become. A poor selection process can have a detrimental effect upon your students and can ultimately be responsible for their growing up ill-prepared and second-rate.

To show our appreciation, Manhattan Beach Music is proud to present FRANK TICHELI’S LIST.

Frank Ticheli’s List will be comprised of pieces selected by Frank Ticheli himself from among the best concert band works of many different publishers in the music industry — pieces we believe will have an important influence on the concert band world itself, upon band directors, music departments, and most of all, upon our students.

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Please join us in this signal effort to raise the industry to even higher standards.

Visit us online at www.FrankTicheli.com and www.ManhattanBeachMusic.com to celebrate with us.

This list may redefine the way that quality music is chosen and purchased. We hope it will blaze a new path towards better music for a band world in which quality music is not the exception, but the rule.

Manhattan Beach Music

www.ManhattanBeachMusic.com 26

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For Forthe theAdvanced AdvancedBand Band Ticheli’s Ticheli’sNew NewMasterwork!

Masterwork!

Symphony 22 forforconcert Symphony No. No. concertband band This is Frank Ticheli’s most This is Frank Ticheli’s most significant significantcontribution contributionyet yetto tothe the concert concertband bandrepertoire. repertoire.

...an ...an explosion explosion of of light, light, color, color, and and motion motion 21 21minutes minutes//Grade Grade66 (movement (movement33alone aloneisisGrade Grade5)5)

Ticheli’s Ticheli’sJazz JazzExplosion!

Explosion!

Blue Blue Shades Shades for forconcert concertband band

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This Thisisisthe thework workthat thatstood stoodthe theband bandworld... world...

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AAwork workbeyond beyondthe theordinary ordinary that thatstands standsalone alone 10 //Grade 55 MBM 27 10minutes minutes Grade TIMES.com www.

Best Music for Young Band revised edition

by Thomas L. Dvorak foreword by with the assistance of Josh Byrd Scott Corley Jeff DeThorne Jennifer B. Greupner J. Micah Hoffman Franklin Jennings

Frank Ticheli edited by

Bob Margolis

www.BestMusicSeries.com

com

“…Best Music for Young Band is a gem. I am proud to recommend this wonderful guide to any and all who care about this repertoire.” from the Foreword by Frank Ticheli

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Michael Colgrass

Grade 2.5 5:30 min.

Bandquest

Old Churches

by Thomas L. Dvorak

ber of compositional techniques evoke this imagery, the first of which is the percussion “bowl” part: The score calls for 12”, Highest Written Notes for Brass Trombone 1: A fifth line 14”, and 16” metal kitchen bowls to be mounted and played Instruments: Trombone 3: F below staff with thick pieces of wood. The performers must read new notaTrumpet 1: G on top of staff Euphonium: D above staff Trumpet 2: B third line Percussion Requirements: tion and are constantly in free rhythm. Other instruments, parTrumpet 3: B third line Bells 1; Bells 2. ticularly the winds and bells, use new-notation and/or aleatoric Horn: C third space Bowls 1; Bowls 2 techniques throughout the piece. hen was the last time young band musicians and Colgrass’s intention is to create a mysterious and darktheir conductors had the opportunity to perform sounding piece that depicts the chants of monks in ancient a piece written by an Emmy and Pulitzer Prize churches. In doing so, the special effects of “murmuring” winning composer? Such is the case with Old sounds, in which the woodwinds play as Churches by Michael Colgrass. As one of the many notes as quickly as possible, create many quality pieces commissioned by the an effect of “voices echoing in monastic Colgrass’s intention American Composer’s Forum, Old Churches churches.” The flutes, clarinets, and bells is to create a mysterious is well-crafted from beginning to end. are also provided with pitch clusters from The unison melody, based on Gregoand dark-sounding piece which they are to play chance rhythms, and rian chant , flows effortlessly throughout the upper woodwinds alone are provided that depicts the chants the work. The orchestration is transparent, with a new-notation that asks the player of monks in ancient clear, but dark sounding, in part attributable to play a specific pitch, and play slow/fast to the lower ranges utilized for each instruchurches. In doing so, through the articulations over the course of ment. The piece is in the key signature of C, two measures. When these compositional the special effects of which can be difficult for all young players; elements are combined with the chant mel“murmuring” sounds, in but there are minimal accidentals, allowing ody, and played well, one can instantly hear the performers to focus almost immediately which the woodwinds the talents of Colgrass. on the music and the aesthetic that Colgrass Colgrass’ writing provides security to play as many notes as presents. With the exception of one 2/4 bar, the players, using only duple rhythms, and quickly as possible, crethe time signature is always 4/4 (at quarter never having a single section perform by itate an effect of “voices note = 60) and the rhythmic constructs are self. The comfort of other players is obvious ideal for young players. as the melody comes to a powerful stateechoing in monastic This work calls for standard band instrument by the upper winds, slowly tapering churches.” mentation with the exception of three flute off to the final new-notation section of the parts, optional bassoon, and a single horn work. As the music comes to a close, the part. Unique percussion requirements include two sets of bowls players are asked to play with approximately 15–20 seconds of and two bell parts. There are no requirements for snare drum or pitch sets and murmuring, over long tones in the brasses. other percussion instruments.

This is a major addition to the repertoire of young bands.

After hearing a performance of this piece, one might imagConductors should not hesitate to include this marvelous aesine themselves in a medieval monastery or cathedral. A numthetic learning experience for their students.

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This review is reprinted from the book, Best Music for Young Band - rev. ed., by Thomas L. Dvorak (Manhattan Beach Music)

Purchase music, download free MP3s, view scores, and more at www.ManhattanBeachMusic.com

SHENANDOAH FRANK

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Grade 3 (solo gr. 4) – piccolo and band, dazzling piccolo in contemporary variations on famous tune.

Grade 3 – an expansive and lush arrangement of the Scottish ballad.

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Grade 3 – an American Masterpiece, standard repertoire for all bands.

Grade 3 – a work of extraordinary originality from a master composer.

Grade 3 – the famous Southern spiritual in a beautifully crafted setting.

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Grade 4 – from the modern master of counterpoint and triadic harmony, an energetic suite.

Grade 4 – a beautiful tribute that has moved audiences nationwide.

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Grade 4 – clashing shards of spinning light explode in this mesmerizing multi-layered fanfare.

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Grade 4 – ideal for honor bands; glorious dance music in Russian style, very full percussion writing.

Grade 4 & 5 – the essential repertoire guide for high school bands.

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Grade 5 – five old English dances, rich timbres, shifting textures.

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Grade 3 – an Overture in a classical Broadway style, superb.

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Grade 1 – a proud and stately original work with an “olden style” and rich harmonies.

Grade 1 – a dark & mysterious Eastern prelude, a humorous march.

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Grade 4 – from the modern master or Ragtime, gloriously happy.

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ENGULFED CATHEDRAL C O N C E R T

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Grade 1 – a delicate bell-like setting of the famous French carol.

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Grade 1 – immensely powerful and dramatic processional.

CONCERT BAND

www.ManhattanBeachMusic.com

Grade 5 – an Indian Raga! with dueling timpani, a first of its kind for band.

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Grade 5 – a stunning, detailed, and authentic setting of the famous work.

www.ManhattanBeachMusic.com

Grade 6 – the ultimate setting of Renaissance dances; a true masterwork.

Purchase Purchasemusic, music,download downloadfree freeMP3s, MP3s,view viewscores, scores,and andmore moreatatwww.ManhattanBeachMusic.com www.ManhattanBeachMusic.com

AMAZING

GRACE c o n c e r t

All Manhattan Beach Music

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publications are printed exclusively by Chernay Printing,

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Coopersburg, Pennsylvania. www.chernay.com

MANHATTAN BEACH MUSIC

Grade 3 – the work that made Frank Ticheli famous.

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Grade 2 – the work that put Margolis on the map, never equalled; a fresh look at arranging.

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Grade 3 – a neoclassic overture of great imagination.

Grade 5 – for lovers of march music, a suite that transcends the medium, yet honors its progenitors.

Grade 3 – in a world without lutes, trombones ruled the earth, playing ragtime. Joyously imaginative.

Grade 1 – educationally and musically simple yet sophisticated music.

Bob Margolis

J.S. Bach

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foreword by

Frank Ticheli

Josh Byrd Scott Corley Jeff DeThorne Jennifer B. Greupner J. Micah Hoffman Franklin Jennings

Concert Band

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by Thomas L. Dvorak

CONCERT B A N D

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Grade 1 – a unique twist on Renaissance dances, a regal procession, and an exuberantly lively sword dance.

ROLLING

revised edition

The essential reference works for band directors seeking the best repertoire; the beginning band book features grade 1 works (further subdivided into three levels); the young band book features grades 2. 2.5, 3, & 3.5.

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Grade 2 – a haunting, thought-provoking set of variations on “America.”

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Grade 3 – a sophisticated, Italian-opera style setting of the world-famous tune.

R A Y M O N D B I R C H A R R A N G E D B Y

TIMOTHY BROEGE C O N C E R T B A N D

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Grade 2 – lessons in open form, a provocative work to teach new music.

Manhattan Beach Music Grade 3 – a setting of the Bach’s C Major harpsichord prelude.

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Grade 3 – a much-liked work; varied scoring, a great introduction to ragtime for younger players.

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Grade 2 – joyful, apt counterpoint from Susato’s immensely famous pavane; a classic for band.

Grade 2 – oft used in cinema, the most famous pavane of its day, well paired with The Battle Pavane.

Grade 1 – exactly what it says.

Grade 1 – richly varied styles for developing interpretive skills in the youngest bands.

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Grade 3 – an expansion of the composer’s work, “Joy,” new key, new ideas (read more in this Issue).

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Introducing The Fir st

Frank Ticheli Inter national

Composition Contest Winners Executive Producer – Neil Ruddy Presented & Sponsored by

Manhattan Beach Music I am deeply honored by the launching of The Frank Ticheli Composition Contest, and excited about the future of this new endeavor sponsored by Manhattan Beach Music.

Composition contests have proven to be an effective way to find, foster, and reward talent. In the case of The Frank Ticheli Composition Contest, the winners receive a kind of “triple reward”: cash prizes, guaranteed publication by Manhattan Beach Music, and a high-quality recording of their works by Mark Records.

If the contest’s inaugural year is any indication of its long-term outlook, I am very optimistic. More than 100 entries were received from countries all over the world, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Finland, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Spain, and the U.S.A. Many of the submissions showed notable talent, and some were truly exceptional.

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photo by Charlie Grosso

photo by Charlie Grosso

I am honored to have my name attached to this composition contest and I look forward to the fruit it yields for many years to come.

Dr. Frank Ticheli Composer/Professor of Composition University of Southern California Thornton School of Music

presenting The First Prize Winner

Michael Markowski for

Shadow Rituals Category 2 — Young Band

USA

S

by Dr. Keith Kinder Photo by John Markowski

hadow Rituals, by the impressive young composer Michael Markowski, was the unanimous winner of Category 2 — Young Band, of The Frank Ticheli Composition Contest, sponsored by Manhattan Beach Music in the spring of 2006. The work is a dazzling display of rhythmic energy, attractive melody and colorful scoring, but beyond those considerations it is also a wonderfully integrated composition that demonstrates the imagination a fine composer can bring to the use of limited musical material.

The highly rhythmic context is established immediately in a short percussion introduction and in the first theme. [See

Example 1: Theme A, bars 5–14 (clarinets)] This melody, played in unison by the clarinets, promptly creates a number of rhythmic principles that will pervade the composition. Much of the work is in 5/4, but the meter signature changes frequently. All of the thematic materials present syncopation that is enhanced by accents and staccato articulations. The phrasal structure incorporates antecedent and consequent phrases of different lengths.

Theme A introduces other important concepts as well. Harmonically, it appears to be in Phrygian mode, but the inter-

Example 1, Theme A, Shadow Rituals   

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vallic content — P5, m2, P5, m3 — is more important to the construction of the piece. The melody is repeated three times.

At its second appearance it is scored for flutes and glockenspiel over an imitative accompaniment based on the descending minor third from the end of the second bar. A new consequent phrase, played by clarinets, low saxophones and horns and later by trumpets, flutes and oboes, is extended to nine bars. At the third statement the tune is again in the clarinets over another accompaniment based on motives from Theme A. An extended

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��������������������������� consequent (clarinets and flutes) leads to a full band unison statement of the motive, B-flat, D-flat, E-flat at bar 34–5, which signals the end of the primary theme area. Overall, this opening section firmly establishes the compositional principles that Markowski will employ throughout the work. Virtually every melodic fragment can be directly related to the primary theme, but the composer creates variety through scoring, dynamics and articulation, generating a masterful blend of unity and contrast. The percussion writing is exemplary. While six players are required, the only “exotic” instrument called for is one brake drum. Not surprisingly, Markowski’s percussion scoring drives

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the music forward and reinforces the rhythmic structure; however, he also enhances the articulation by employing choked cymbal and slapstick. A short transition leads to Theme B. [See Example 2: Theme B, bars 45–53 (horns)] While this is the first full statement of the secondary theme, the transition that precedes it has already introduced the initial motive, and, indeed, this motive appeared as early as bar 18.

Also, the two themes are unmistakably closely related through intervallic content. Contrast to the initial theme is provided by

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Theme B elides into a substantial, multi-sectional development that presents a remarkable series of episodes based on fragmentation and recombination of the two themes. The initial episode is focused on the opening motive of theme A and presents it in augmentation in low brass, at its original speed in the striking combination of trumpets, piccolo and glockenspiel, and then in canon in the high woodwinds. In the second episode, Theme B appears in the upper woodwinds accompanied by fragments from Theme A. The two episodes that begin at bars 82 and 92 are extraordi-

nary. The first is a chorale in 5/4 in which the first and second bars of Theme A are set in counterpoint against each other.

Both the 2+3 and the 3+2 rhythmic patterns in 5/4 are presented simultaneously, creating an engaging cross rhythm with accents on both beats three and four of each bar. The ensuing episode introduces what might be called Theme C, except Example 2, Theme B, Shadow Rituals 

     

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       

which, of course, it is. Simultaneously, the woodwinds and horns present Theme A in augmentation (one-quarter speed).

The slow progression of this version of the tune adds to the restrained character of these bars, while flute/clarinet flourishes consisting of contrary motion scales and loud percussion outbursts maintain forward momentum. At the coda (bar 164)

           

      

       

                                               

that it uses the exact notes of the initial motive of Theme A, all sense of restraint vanishes. Rapid woodwind swirls, held somewhat re-ordered. [See Example 3: Theme C', bars 94–100 brass chords and restatements of the opening motives of the (euphonium) two themes bring the work to a With this work, Michael Markowski has This theme is a precise palinrousing close. drome, and in the subsequent With this work, Michael established himself as a major new voice in bars is developed canonically.

Markowski has established the world of band composition.

Shifting meter, which requires himself as a major new voice in a lot of syncopation, might obthe world of band composition. scure the sense of canon, but Markowski cleverly set the first While the most immediately appealing aspect of this work is its set of entries for solo players on bassoon, alto saxophone and rhythmic vitality, the score reveals a highly imaginative musical clarinet and the spare texture plus timbral contrast preserves the mind capable of creating compelling melodic materials, well inanswering effect. tegrated harmonic contexts and colorful soundscapes. Perhaps An episode employing canonic development of the opening most impressive, however, is his adeptness in working with his motive of Theme B leads to a restatement at bar 139 of Theme chosen musical materials. What will follow Shadow Rituals?

A in almost its original form. These bars sound like a recapitulaOne cannot but be excited by the possibilities.  tion; however, only the initial phrase is articulated; the conseDr. Keith W. Kinder is Associate Professor of Music at McMaster quent is a blending of the two principal themes in a climactic University in Ontario, Canada, where he conducts the concert band passage employing full band. and the chamber orchestra, leads the Music Education program and What follows is another marvelous musical moment. Theme teaches courses in conducting and music education. As an recognized A appears in trumpets in exactly its original form, except rhythexpert in wind literature and performance, he presents regularly at mically altered to fit into 6/4 meter instead of 5/4. The hemiola conferences worldwide. He is the author of Best Music for Chorus required to accomplish this design gives the melody a wonderand Winds (Manhattan Beach), The Wind and Wind-Chorus Music ful “held back” quality, as if it is struggling against the meter, of Anton Bruckner (Greenwood), and Prophetic Trumpets: Homage, Example 3, Theme C', Shadow Rituals



Worship and Celebration in the Wind Band Music of Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt (Pendragon).

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presenting The First Prize Winner

Jodie Blackshaw for

Whirlwind

Category 1 — Beginning Band

Australia

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by Dr. Keith Kinder Photos by Rolf Einhaus

hirlwind by Australian composer Jodie Blackshaw was the unanimous winner of Category 1— Beginning Band of The Frank Ticheli Composition Contest in the spring of 2006, sponsored by Manhattan Beach Music. The work is an innovative approach to composing for musicians of limited ability.

Technical demands are minimal.

The melodic material employs only four notes, concert pitches A–C– D–E, voiced in each instrument’s easiest register, and used to construct a simple, wistful tune that appears unaltered as so-

los, in two-part canon and in fourpart canon throughout the piece.

The most complicated rhythms are eighth notes, except for some snare drum figures in sixteenths.

However, around these uncomplicated elements, Blackshaw has created an unusual and appealing soundscape that employs “home-made” instruments (waterglass chimes and various kinds of rattles), and “whirlies” (lengths of corrugated plastic pipe that are spun by the player to generate sound) in addition to the customary band complement. These

Example 1, the solo melody

Like a whirlwind: slowly - getting faster - then slowly again

         

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mp smoooth and gentle

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         



        

       

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unexpected constituents allow Blackshaw to introduce graphic establishes an A minor tonality. The first event, A, and the last notation, draw attention to timbre, balance and listening, and event, I, are entitled Soundscape, are freely notated and involve encourage dynamic sensitivity. The score contains an extensive only the “home-made” instruments. The pulsating, eerie sound prelude that explains of the “whirlies”, Whirlwind is an unusual and intriguing addition to the played by four perthe composer’s concept of the piece and offers young band repertoire. While it provides excellent cussionists, is an suggestions for its realobvious evocation learning opportunities, this composition reaches ization. The composer of the title, and the has developed a pedawell beyond pedagogy. The events flow smoothly waterglass chimes gogical package called and rattles suggest one into the next and the blending of continuity and “Know your stuff” that rain. The score is is intended to assist contrast offers a convincing musical experience. only an approximawith the teaching of tion of what might all the elements of this result. The compiece, and is available as a free download from the Manhattan poser encourages experimentation so that no two performances Beach Music web site. would sound the same.

Whirlwind is constructed as a series of contrasted events. A At the B event the melody is introduced as a solo accompapedal “A” drone through much of the piece establishes a tonal annied only by the whirlies [See Example 1, solo melody, prior chor, and, when combined with the work’s four melodic pitches, page]

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As can be seen in the exanimated than previous ample, this section is senza sections, it has the character misura. The solo is printed in of a dance — a rain dance, all parts permitting a variety perhaps? of soloists to be selected. The Event G is the climax B event elides into C, which of the work. The full band uses the last phrase of the presents a four-voice canon melody to gradually incorpoaccompanied initially by rate the full band. Each playonly the pitched percussion, er is to be directed when to but gradually other percusbegin by the conductor and sion and the whirlies are to hold the final note (A) of added. Event H involves the melody until everyone aronly percussion and two rives at that pitch. Again, the soloists. The soloists are composer presumes that each clarinet and muted trumperformance will be unique; pet, the latter instrument however, this section introintended to act as an echo duces the idea of imitation, to the former. Each perwhich will be explored later forms the four phrases of in the work. the melody once. A striking At event D, the piece bepercussion effect is called comes measured in 3/4 meter for at this point. The timfor the first time. Only the panist is instructed to place drone and layered percussion a suspended cymbal upside appear. The composer, howdown on the largest timever, has carefully specified pani and roll on the cymbal mallets and sticking patterns while moving the timpani and also demands considerpedal up and down — anable sensitivity from the playother extraordinary evoers. For example: every part cation of wind sound. As has a different dynamic, and noted earlier, event I is a rethe bass drum is required to call of the beginning of the execute a long roll with very composition, which gives carefully placed crescendos and the impression of starting decrescendos. The pitched over. Like a whirlwind, this instruments, glockenspiel work is circular in form. and timpani, again establish Whirlwind is an unusual A minor. and intriguing addition to The composer playing the whirly — in Canberra, Australia, the AustraThe percussion layers and the young band repertoire. lian Parliament building in background. the drone continue into event While it provides excellent E, where they support a two-part canon using the four phrases learning opportunities, this composition reaches well beyond of the melody. Since each phrase ends on either A or E, players pedagogy. The events flow smoothly one into the next and the should be encouraged to match their pitch to the drone. Event blending of continuity and contrast offers a convincing musical F is another series of percussion layers, but, unlike event D, they experience. Whirlwind could well be the highlight of your next are fragmented and employ six carefully differentiated sounds. performance!  Since this section is at a loud volume and is more rhythmically

38

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presenting The Second Prize Winner

Jeremy Irish for

Repercussions Category 1 - Beginning Band

USA presenting The Second Prize Winner

Jodie Blackshaw (Also the first place winner for her piece “Whirlwind” Category 1- Beginning Band)

for

Terpsichorean Dances Category 2 - Young Band

AUSTRALIA presenting The Third Prize Winner

presenting The Third Prize Winner

Christopher Tucker

Takayoshi Ya n a g ida

for

Journey down Niagara

for

Portrait of the West Wind

Category 1 - Beginning Band

Category 2 - Young Band

USA

JAPAN

Manhattan Beach Music would like to thank all of the composers who entered their compositions in the 1st Frank Ticheli Composition Contest, and helped to make it a great success. www. MBM TIMES.com 39

Think Small... it just might be the Smartest Thing you do.

A

by Dr. John Darling s predictable as the changing of the seasons,

you probably have the same piece, under a multitude of

the annual barrage of “new” music catalogs and CDs from

different titles, already in your library or pieces that fit the

the large music publishers arrives in the mail with regularity.

same mold and would produce the same effect.

This yearly onslaught normally

It’s much the same if you attend the “new music” reading

happens during the summer

sessions that many publishers

months so that band directors

You can simply close your eyes and

can review the “new” music for

tell which composer you’re listening

the upcoming school year and the inevitable festival contests.

to since it usually is just a rehash

The problem is that very few of

of last year’s publication;

the hours upon hours of music

sponsor around the country at the same time of the year.

There are music professionals leading and conducting these sessions whose job it is to convince you to buy every new

on many of these CDs rarely

compositional techniques are

sounds “new.” You can simply

rarely changed, the formula is

It is very rare to hear these

always the same, the melodies often

about any of the pieces. To be

close your eyes and tell which composer you’re listening to since it usually is just a rehash of

last

year’s

publication;

compositional techniques are rarely changed, the formula is

are recycled with very little imagination, and the outcome is always predictable.

always the same, the melodies

piece that is being presented. barkers say anything negative honest, most of the time there are only one or two really outstanding pieces that are worth the effort to open the score and seriously consider pur-

often are recycled with very little imagination, and the

chasing. Whether you’re listening to the CDs or attending

outcome is always predictable.

a reading session, you normally don’t have the opportunity

Yet if you read the literature, you absolutely must have this new piece for your contest entry, even though

40

MBM

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to hear any of the compositions in its entirety, which for this author is doubly frustrating.

Without the score to look at, how is one to know what the rest of the craftsmanship is like and whether it’s worth purchasing?

As a general rule, this author has found that it doesn’t even matter; very little of vast quantities of what these publishing companies put out every year is worth the money or the effort.

So where can you go to find truly “new” music that is inspired, fresh, and programmable? You might want to start with your college music teachers, the ones who always seem to find and program the better music. Through their connections, these people very often have a bit of an inside track to the trends in the industry and the younger composers who are worth the time and effort to support. Your colleagues and friends could be another source, but double check their recommendations against the publishing company’s packages you received in the mail; it very well could be much of the same.

Then there is the internet. With the advances in Think high-speed internet connections, surfing your favorite music places is hardly the laborious and frustrating Small task that it was just ten years ago. Many publishing companies have started to take advantage of the online environment and have placed their new music on their websites with active links that allow you to hear and sometimes see their latest publications. Most often, these are complete recordings or sometimes midi file versions of the complete composition. This is a very smart and convenient approach to the marketing of new music. For the smaller publishing companies, the advantage of online market makes more sense because it is much more cost effective.

These smaller companies simply cannot compete with the mailing campaigns of the larger mega-publishing companies.

Yet the music that you can find at these smaller publishers is normally far superior, more rewarding, and often more affordable. By choosing music from an independent and smaller publisher, you can send a definite message to both the large publishers who must sell vast quantities of literature to make a profit, regardless of the quality of that literature, and to the smaller companies who are supporting more of the newer composers who write wind literature and don’t have the connections to get their works published by the standard bearers of music publishing.

The larger publishing companies will only respond to the demands of the consumer for better literature when they see continuous declines in their revenues. As conductors, you have the power to demand better literature, but only if you are bold

enough to choose wisely and are willing to put forth a little more effort by purchasing better music.

Below is a list of some of the websites that this author has found that showcase composers whose music is worth the extra effort to research and purchase. Some of the companies on this list are fairly well known; some are still trying to attract consumers. These companies are not presented in any specific order. Each site has its own advantages, and each has room for improvement.

You can help these companies present their literature and products better by contacting them and providing them with positive feedback and constructive criticism.

They want to hear from you; you are their customers and they want you to keep coming back. Please take some time to visit these sites to listen and look at music that doesn’t have to fit a particular formula or sell a minimum number of copies in order to be considered this years’ “new” music.  Dr. John Darling is Assistant Professor of Music at Bismarck State College in Bismarck, North Dakota, where he conducts the Wind Ensemble, Jazz Ensemble, Woodwind Choir, Brass Choir, and teaches Instrumental Conducting and Aural Skills.

He was recently named an Associate Member of the Board of Directors for the International Summer Music Camp that meets annually at the International Peace Gardens on the boarder between Canada and the United States. His dedication and support of quality music education at all levels keeps him busy as an active adjudicator, guest conductor and clinician throughout the upper Midwest. He is a regular contributing author to the Journal of the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE), and MBM Times.

Dr. John Darling’s list of recommended web sites appears directly below. As a service to our readers, individual reviews of the sites appear online at www. mbmtimes.com/darling Manhattan Beach Music, www.manhattanbeachmusic.com Alfred Publishing, www.alfred.com Arrangers’ Publishing Company, www.arrangerspublishingcompany.com BCM International, www.bcminernational.com Eighth Note Publications, www.enpmusic.com FJH Music Company, www.fjhmusic.com Neil A. Kjos Music Company, www.kjos.com Musica Propria, www.musicapropria.com Wingert-Jones Music Publications, www.wjpublications.com Stormworld, www. stormworld.com www. MBM

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41

(continued from p. 7) This grade 1 work also affords even the youngest players the opportunity to experience counterpoint. The entire work is contrapuntal, including a simple, four part canon at measure 38, and the fullest expression of counterpoint at measure 56, where there are fully five musical ideas expressed simultaneously (see example 3).

Example 3, from Riders to Stonehenge (Gr. 1) by Gregory Rudgers Flute

E Alto Saxophone

B Coronet

Trombone

Tom-Tom/Woodblock

Percussion

I have also included solo opportunities for trumpet, flute (or piccolo!) and alto saxophone. The percussion lines here are not accompanying figures but voices in counterpoint unto themselves. It has been my experience that even the youngest of players enjoy going beyond the notes and the rhythms. With Riders to Stonehenge, young musicians will be able to rehearse and perform a work (well within their technical abilities) that allows them to gain musical insight into the construction of the work itself. 

b ted Presen

ed b t Presen

sic ch Mu a e B n ta anhat yM

ic h Mus n Beac a t t a anh yM

trina ane Ka

TIMES

urric ed by H

MBM

ou nor Y We Ho

Americ

s.org

milie icanFa

Amer elping oolsH anSch

 Hillsdale High School, Jeromesville,

  Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, Michigan  Gustine High School, Gustine, California  Windermere Preparatory School, Windermere, Florida  Collinsville High School, Collinsville, Oklahoma  Kenwood K-8 Center, Miami, Florida  Cleveland High School, Cleveland, Mississippi  Allties High School, Ashland, Ohio  Orestimba High School, Newman, California  Lutheran High School, Sheboygan, Wisconsin  Sudlow Intermediate School, Davenport, Iowa  Meridian High School, Bellingham, Washington  ReethsPuffer Middle School, Muskegon, Michigan  Coeur d’Alene High School, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho  West Forsyth High School, Clemmons, North Carolina  Monroe Magnet School ,Inglewood, California  West Michigan Concert WINDS, Spring Lake, Michigan  Henrietta Junior High. Henrietta, Texas  Vestavia Hills High School, Vestavia Hills, Alabama  West Brook High School, Beaumont, Texas  Hunter Huss High School, Gastonia, North Carolina  Olympus Jr. High School, Roseville, California  Warren High School, Warren, Texas  Graham Park Middle School, Triangle, Virginia Ohio

affect

rina ne Kat

42

Amer

elping

H hools

anSc Americ

org milies. icanFa

You, from page 57)

se g tho Helpin

rica

by Hur

g

cted se affe g tho Helpin

elping ools iH h s c S i l ican ican Fam e AmerA mer

ou nor Y We Ho

(American Schools Helping American Families: We Honor

elping ools iH h s c S i ican ican Fam l e AmerA mer

Union-Endicott High School, Endicott, New York

from

GIA Publications, Inc. “I do believe that for the band community to grow artistically, some things are going to have to change. Simply, we need better, more interesting literature and a dedication to the creation of new, different works. Much of the industry is now controlled by a handful of major publishers and as such they can dictate which pieces will be popular and receive the most exposure. I think it is essential for band conductors to find and nurture the music that lies on the fringes. Only then will the rest of the concert world start to recognize the wind band for what it can become: the most influential and relevant live performing ensemble in concert music.”

Eric Whitacre writing in Composers on Composing for Band, vol. 2 (pp. 266-67) www. MBM

TIMES.com

43

Enchanted Island by

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Steve Rouse

������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ ��������������������������������������������� �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� �������������������������������������������������������������������� Gra�e 1

Score and Performance Notes ���������������������������������������������������������������

by

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��������������� Dr. John Darling

���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ���������������������������

44

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����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� www. MBM

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45

���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ������������������� ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������� �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ����������������������������������� ��������������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������������������ ������������������������������������������������������������������������������ ������������������������������������������������ �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� �������������������� ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ����������������

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E N C H A N T E D I S L A N D

D E T N A E N C H D N A L S I

S T E V E S T E V E R O U S E

E N w w C H A N T E D w .

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47

o r t i N a look at

Frank Ticheli’s

Nitro is one of the newest band works from the prolific pen of Frank Ticheli. This short, brilliant work was commissioned by the Northshore Concert Band and conductor Mal-

by Dr. Keith Kinder

Nitro, an energy-charged three-minute fanfare for band, was commissioned by the Northshore Concert Band, Mallory Thompson, music director, in celebration of their 50th anniversary season, and re-

lory Thompson. The score contains exten-

ceived its premiere performance by them on April 9th, 2006.

sive, and highly revealing, performance notes

Nitrogen is the most abundant component of the Earth’s atmosphere

that will be of considerable help to conductors

(78 per cent by volume), and is present in the tissues of every living thing. It is the fifth most abundant element in the universe, cre-

preparing this composition for performance.

According to the notes included in the score, the composer was inspired by his contemplation of the enormous importance to the universe of the element of nitrogen (chemical symbol N2). Ticheli was fascinated by this element’s “life-giving, energizing, healing, cleansing, explosive” characteristics, and in his composition makes reference to the natural world, the human world and perhaps to the nature of creation itself.

The work opens with a ‘sound cloud’ of articulated triplets in the woodwinds (called “chattering” by the composer) that form the background to the primary theme played by horns and trombones. [See Example 1: Primary Theme, bars 3–6 (horns and trombones)]

48

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ated by the fusion deep within stars; it has recently been detected in interstellar space. The sheer prevalence of nitrogen in all of nature, and the infinite range of compounds it is part of — life-giving, energizing, healing, cleansing, explosive — all appealed to me, and served as the inspiration for my music.

The main musical idea for Nitro is a powerful, angular theme, first announced by the trombones and horns, and then imitated in the trumpets. Trumpet fanfare calls and a busy and relentless chattering in the woodwinds enhance the bright, festive mood.

The

middle

wind

theme

section that

is is

based

partly

on

a

fanfare-like,

woodpartly

dance-like. This contrasting theme is built from intervals occurring in the natural overtone series (octave and twelfth), giving it an expansive, open-air quality. The main theme reappears, growing in power and density all the while, building to a thunderous conclusion.

Frank Ticheli, preface to Nitro

Example 1, Nitro, Primary Theme

    





 

f







 





   

o r it N

 



   

This theme includes only five pitches — B-flat, F, D, E-flat, A-flat — which are employed as a pitch set. Each phrase of the theme presents the same notes re-ordered, extended and set in canon, while the “chattering” accompaniment also is comprised mainly of these pitches. The opening section is extended to fifteen bars through these manipulations. A notable feature of these introductory bars occurs at bars 6–8.

The trumpets insert a fanfare that initially employs the notes of the pitch set, but then presents parallel major chords including B-flat major, C major and D major. The woodwinds and mallet percussion echo the trumpet part in bar 8, and the composer asks that they “shout” this part out to ensure that the echo will be heard. The woodwind echo is restated at bar 10. Immense energy is projected by these opening bars, which immediately captures the listener’s interest. One wonders if

euphonium as well. As this section progresses the rhythmic interval between entries of the canon is compressed, creating a complex contrapuntal texture that leads to a major arrival point at bar 30, and the beginning of another subsection. The primary theme during the A1 section is altered in two ways. The composer adds C to the pitch set, and, more

Ticheli’s limited pitch use might be a meta-

importantly, the E-flat becomes E-natural.

phor for the creative process itself; that is,

This change of pitch adds a second tritone

the re-ordering of a few elements to generate

to the pitch set (D/A-flat was present from

a constantly evolving design that has both inter-

the outset, B-flat/E is One wonders if Ticheli’s limited pitch use might be a metaphor for the creative process

nal unity and a continu-

ing considerably more

itself; that is, the re-ordering of a few elements to generate a con-

ously varied surface.

astringency in the me-

stantly evolving design that has both internal unity

At bar 15 a new subsec-

lodic content.

and a continuously varied surface.

tion (A ) begins. Anoth1

added here) generat-

The A2 section is ush-

er sound cloud emerges

ered in at bar 30 by a

using a short slurred figure interwoven

rush of simultaneously rising and falling chro-

through the high woodwinds that Ticheli

matic scales. The melody is again in canon

identifies as a “whirlwind,” clearly a reference

in the brass instruments, but is an extended

to the natural world. Beneath this figure, the

version of the primary theme incorporating

primary theme is again reiterated, this time

additional notes that make it almost octa-

in canon, initially between trumpets and

tonic. [See Example 2: Primary Theme,

trombones, later incorporating horns and

Subsection A2, bars 33–36 (trumpets)]

Example 2, Nitro, Primary Theme, Subsection A2

   







ff exuberant, ben marcato







 



 

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

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49

Detail from the composer’s manuscript sketch of Nitro

Example 3, Nitro, Secondary Theme

    

 

f

                                                     

   

   

The accompaniment is reduced to sustained notes in wood-

nates in the work’s major climax, an intense, highly syncopated,

winds and mallet percussion that are marked with accents and

full-band outburst at bars 77–80.

quick diminuendos, and emphasize important notes of the melody. This section ends quietly at bar 46 on a D-flat major-

At bar 81, the primary theme returns, again in canon and supported by rising parallel major chords

seventh chord.

The B section and the secondary

In an extraordinarily imaginative stroke, the bass instru-

theme appear at bar 47. Here the

ments simultaneously present a transposed and

melodic activity is transferred from the

rhythmically altered version of the primary

brass to the woodwinds and the style becomes lighter and more spirited. The mel-

theme. This episode culminates in the

ody incorporates shifting meter and unusual

work’s major climax, an intense,

note groupings to create a dance-like character.

Ticheli has also noted that this melody is doubled

highly syncopated, full-

at both the octave and the twelfth, drawing on the

band outburst.

in the low voices, a harmonic idea that appeared in the first bars of the piece. These measures sound like a recapitulation, and this sense is en-

hanced when the secondary theme reappears at bars 90–93. Ticheli, however, has a more inventive idea. After bar 93, the brass instruments construct a wedge through contrary motion that arrives at the unison pitch F, the first

note of the entire work, at bar 96, which is the actual recapitulation. At this point the original “chattering”

intervals of the overtone series. Such construction re-

woodwind sound cloud is repeated, while the brass pres-

lates it to the natural world, while, at the same time, its dancing character suggests the human world. [See Example 3:

ent a truncated and rhythmically altered version of the primary

Secondary Theme, bars 46–48 (alto saxes, oboes, first clarinet]

theme that drives the work to a exhilarating close.

Each phrase of the theme is interrupted by a flourish of six-

The circumstances of the commission required a celebratory

teenth notes in low woodwinds. Ticheli describes this section

work, and Ticheli responded with a composition filled with

as a battle between the high and the low woodwinds, which is

verve and relentless forward momentum. Short and immense-

“refereed” by a series of loud whacks on a large slapstick — an

ly energetic, this piece would serve equally well as a concert

appealing touch of humor. The dancing theme wins out and

opener or closer. And, as might be expected from a composer

initiates a substantial development wherein it is passed around

of this stature, it also comprises inventive melodic construction,

the ensemble in the type of highly attractive scoring that is typi-

outstanding scoring and a fine marriage of form and content.

cal of Ticheli’s writing for band.



The episode beginning at bar 72 deserves special mention.

An ascending near-chromatic figure rises quickly through the band, beginning in horns and saxophones and ultimately reaching piccolo. In an extraordinarily imaginative stroke, the bass instruments simultaneously present a transposed and rhythmically altered version of the primary theme. This episode culmi-

52

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Dr. Keith W. Kinder is Associate Professor of Music at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, where he conducts the concert band and the chamber orchestra, leads the Music Education program and teaches courses in conducting and music education. As an recognized expert in wind literature and performance, he presents regularly at conferences worldwide. He is the author of Best Music for Chorus and Winds (Manhattan Beach), The Wind and Wind-Chorus Music of Anton Bruckner (Greenwood), and Prophetic Trumpets: Homage, Worship and Celebration in the Wind Band Music of Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt (Pendragon).

commissioned by the Northshore Concert Band, Mallory Thompson, music director, for their 50th anniversary season

NITRO

FOR CONERT BAND

= c. 144+ Piccolo

3

3

1 3

Flute 2

3

Oboe

FRANK TICHELI 4

3

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B Bass Clarinet

Bassoon

1 2 1 3

E Alto Saxophone

3

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B Tenor Saxophone

E Baritone Saxophone

1

B Trumpet 2

3 (at least 2 players per part) 1 F Horn

(at least 2 players per part)

2

1 Trombone

a2

2 3

Euphonium

Tuba Timpani

initial settings

(also plays Medium Triangle)

1

Percussion 2

3

Copyright Š 2006 by Manhattan Beach Music/All Rights Reserved. — Printed and engraved in the United States of America.

ISBN 1-59913-018-1 (complete set) ISBN 1-59913-019-X (conductor score) Go to www.Frank Ticheli.com for the latest information on the music of Frank Ticheli www. MBM

Go to www.ManhattanBeachMusic.com & www.BestMusicSeries.com to hear composers, see videos, download soundfiles and purchase music

TIMES.com

53

I

was at a party of University of Michigan alumni in Ann Arbor when I overheard a conversation between an alumnus and the renowned William D. Revelli.

The woman was a member of the class of ‘53 engineering school and I heard her say, “And what do you do here at the university Mr. Revelli?” Revelli smiled at the woman and said,

“I am a teacher.” “Oh really, what do you teach?” she replied. He smiled again and said, “Madam, I teach young people.” Though never having had the opportunity to hear him speak in person, I understand that John Wooden of UCLA Basketball fame described his professional life in a similar fashion. He saw himself as a teacher.

There are musicians who choose to perform for a living and musicians who choose to teach, and of course there are many musicians who do both. But those of us who have chosen the classrooms and rehearsal halls of the nation’s schools as our venue sometimes have trouble identifying what it is that we do. Are we conductors? Teachers? Performers? Leaders? Administrators?

The answer, quite obvious to anyone who has spent any time in the classroom, is that we are all of the above. The dedicated music educator needs a wide spectrum of skills and insight to be successful.

Music teachers lead rehearsals, drill on fundamentals, demonstrate for students, serve as models for artistry, and organize and lend structure and direction to our programs. And yet, the umbrella that gathers all of the others is that of a teacher. Teaching is what we do and teaching is the driving force in our chosen profession.

If you have the opportunity to attend a rehearsal of a professional band or orchestra you will notice a profound difference

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Teaching

by Gregory B. Rudgers

in the role of that conductor and that which we do each day in our rehearsal halls. Professional conductors need not remind the musicians of the tendencies of the individual instruments, or correct errors, or even solve intonation problems. Their task is to lend cohesion to the ensemble, provide interpretation of the score, and, as a result of their deep and resonant knowledge of the work at hand, lend a sense of direction and personality to the performance.

Now attend a rehearsal of a beginning band or orchestra and note the responsibilities of the conductor. These will include that which the professional conductor must include, of course, cohesion, interpretation, direction, and personality, but most often, those lofty goals are only achieved if literally hundreds of lessons have been taught before the musicians can even begin to rehearse. There are chairs and stands to set up, reminders of key signatures, meter signatures, note names, and values. There are lessons about proper posture and rehearsal behavior, and even the acceptable way to enter and leave the rehearsal hall.

And perhaps the most distinct difference between the professional and academic rehearsal is the amount of time dedicated to the preparation of a work. I once heard it described as a reverse ratio — the more advanced the ensemble, the less rehearsal time necessary to achieve a performance. In my observation, that appears to be true up through the various strata of experi-

from the

Podium

The grandiloquent gestures and grandiose postures of the young conductor were just glorious. Unfortunately, the sounds coming from the band were nearly unrecognizable. It was obvious that there was great conducting going on in the band’s rehearsals, but very little teaching. ence. The amount of rehearsal time necessary for a beginning band to successfully perform a two and one half minute tune probably reaches a total of a few hours. In those same hours, a junior high band will accomplish much more complicated music, and when arriving at the professional level, those same hours will lend near perfection to an entire evening of music.

unrecognizable. It was obvious that there was great conducting going on in the band’s rehearsals, but very little teaching. The poor kids did not even know the proper notes and rhythms of the piece, say nothing of interpretation or expression.

Take it one more step. Is it possible to have a successful performance without the students learning anything? Of course!

So, there is a difference — a profound difference between that We have all attended concerts where the evening consisted of which we do and the world of professional musicians and conformula music — music designed to be easy to learn and easy to ductors. And when we recognize that difference, and embrace perform. Music composed to make the band sound quite good, that difference, then we recognize the fact that we are first and no matter what they know or have accomplished. It is a quite foremost teachers. Of course we are musicians, of course we a neat trick really — almost slight of hand. It is music without are conductors, and of course we are performers. But most of learning. All that is necessary is to teach the kids a melody (usuall, we teach. And, at the end of the day, when we take the ally modal-Dorian, or Aeolian) by rote, teach them a catchy time to review our successes and failures, rhythmic ostinato by rote, then point How much time do you out that the middle slow section is the we should remember that which is most important in what we do. We should ask want to spend teaching exact same melody augmented and that ourselves, what did I teach today? notes and rhythms? And the grand finale is the same melody in Maestoso and there you have it — a how much time would you When you come right down to it, one crowd pleasing, principal pleasing, and rather spend teaching about can be a wonderful conductor without absolutely soulless performance. It even phrase, and balance, and ex- sounds hard. I mean, after all, all those students learning anything. I once had the unfortunate opportunity of judging pression, and interpretation? drums, and all that volume. The only a band contest where a young conductor problem is that no one has learned anybrought her band on the stage to perform a very challenging thing. And the last time I looked, that is our job — to see that program. She was resplendent in tie and tails and the band was people learn. in formal attire as well. And, as one watched the conductor on the podium one would have thought that the United States And lastly, the best musicians in our profession may or may not Marine Band was performing. The grandiloquent gestures and have the most success producing the best bands and orchesgrandiose postures of the young conductor were just glorious. tras. Their success will rely on their mastery of the art from, of Unfortunately, the sounds coming from the band were nearly course, but perhaps as importantly, (continued on page 58) www. MBM

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 Eastern York High School, York, Pennsylvania  Heppner Music Department, Heppner, Oregon  Greenfield High School, Greenfield, Wisconsin  Shullsburg High School, Shullsburg, Wisconsin  Hawfields Middle School, South Mebane, North Carolina  Belleville Philharmonic Society, Belleville, Illinois  State College Concert Band, State College, Pennsylvania  Ganesha High School, Pomona, California  Cook High School, Adel, Georgia  Marathon High School, Marathon, Wisconsin  Parkview School District, Orfordville, Wisconsin  Nazareth Academy, LaGrange Park, Illinois George Washington University, Washington, DC  West Virginia Wesleyan College, Buckhannon, West Virginia  Walhalla Middle School, Walhalla, South Carolina  Sherman Jr./Sr. High School, Moro, Oregon  Norwell Middle School, Norwell, Massachusetts  Plano West Senior High, Plano, Texas  Catholic Central High School, Novi, Michigan  A.C. Davis High School, Yakima, Washington  Northern Westchester Music School, Yorktown, New York  Carl Albert High School, Midwest City, Oklahoma  South Fayette High School, McDonald, Pennsylvania  North High School, Bakersfield, California  Pfeiffer School, Massillon, Ohio  Riverside High School, Boardman, Oregon  Wallowa High School, Wallowa, Oregon  Arlington High School, Arlington, Oregon  Park Middle School, Antioch, California  C. K. McClatchy High School, Sacramento, California  Orange Community Concert Band, Bridge City, Texas  Claremont Middle School, Oakland, California  Parkhill Jr. High School, Dallas, Texas  Skiatook High School, Skiatook, Oklahoma  Rolling Meadows High School, Rolling Meadows, Illinois  Madison High School, Madison, South Dakota  Gallia Academy High School, Gallipolis, Ohio  Anderson High School, Austin, Texas  Porter’s Chapel Academy, Vicksburg, Mississippi  Quabbin Regional High School,

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g lies.or i m a F an  Westgate meric A g n i Collegiate & Vocational Institute, p l e H ls Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada  Manteno High School Schoo n a c i r Band, Manteno, Illinois  Engadine Consolidated Schools, Engadine, Michie m A gan  Century High School, Pocatello, Idaho  Chippewa Hills High School, Remus, Michigan Philomath High School, Philomath, Oregon  Wyandotte High School, Wyandotte, Oklahoma  Dakota High School,  Dakota, Illinois  Pittsburg Community Middle School, Pittsburg, Kansas  Bismarck State College, Bismarck, North Dakota  Batesburg-Leesville High School, Batesburg-Leesville, South Carolina  New Berlin West High School, Band New Berlin, Wisconsin  Frostproof High School, Frostproof, Florida  Jackson Middle School, Albuquerque, New Mexico  St. Pius X High School, Pottstown, Pennsylvania  Palo Verde High School, Tucson, Arizona  Lutheran High School

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Westland, Westland, Michigan Sitka High School. Sitka. Alaska A.C. Davis Senior High School, Yakima.

Washington School District #25, Pocatello, Idaho McCord Middle School, Columbus, Ohio Mulberry High School, Mulberry, Florida Perkins-Tryon High School, Perkins, Oklahoma ENMU-Roswell Community Band, Roswell, New Mexico UPS School of Music, Tacoma, Washington

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rg ilies.o m a F n ca Ameri g n i p l He hools c S n a c  Dufur School, Ameri Dufur, Oregon  Washington Middle School, St. Louis, Missouri  Aiea Intermees.org i l i m a F diate Band, Aiea, Hawaii n  Waukesha South High School, Waukesha, a meric A Wisconsin  Morton High School, Morton, Illinois  Birchland Park School, East Longg n i Help meadow, Massachusetts  Hernando High School, Brooksville, Florida  Ingleside High School, Ingleside, Texas  West Iredell High School, Statesville, North Carolina  East Pennsboro High School, Enola, Pennsylvania  Hancock High School, Hancock, Maryland  Valdez High School, Valdez, Alaska  Folly Quarter Middle School, Ellicott City, Maryland  Lime Kiln Middle School, Fulton, Maryland  River Hill High School, Clarksville, Maryland  Bushy Park Elementary School, Glenwood, Maryland  Ellicott Mills Middle School, Ellicott City, Maryland  Hodgdon Elementary School, Hodgdon, Maine  McEwen High School, Athena, Oregon  Central Middle School,Waukesha, Wisconsin  Hope Bands, Hope, Arkansas  Cathey Middle School, McAllen, Texas  A school in Alberta, Canada  Timberline High School, Lacey, Washington  Weiser High School, Weiser, Idaho  Lincoln Middle School, McAllen, Texas  Fallbrook High School, Fallbrook, California  Wes-Del High School, Gaston, Indiana  Lander Valley High School, Lander, Wyoming  Northwestern High School, Maple, Wisconsin  Bläserschule Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany  Wichita Southeast High School, Wichita, Kansas  Page Middle School, Franklin, Tennessee FCMS, Duncan, South Carolina  Concordia University, West Irvine, California  Lord Botetourt High School, Daleville, Virginia  Paul W. Bryant High School, Cottondale, Alabama  Central High School, Tuscaloosa, Alabama  Minor High School, Adamsville, Alabama  Jefferson R-7, Festus, Missouri  Westview School, Neosho, Missouri  Hillcrest High School, Evergreen, Alabama  Carterville High School, Carterville, Illinois  Ouachita Baptist University, Arkadelphia, Arkansas  Pickens County High School, Reform, Alabama  Prairie Hills Middle School, Hutchinson, Kansas  Highland High School, Pocatello, Idaho  Occidental College, Los Angeles, California  Crook County Middle School, Prineville, Oregon  Pearl High School, Flowood, Mississippi  Wynanatskill Union Free School District, Wynantskill, New York  Arkadelphia High School, Arkadelphia, Arkansas  Wichita County High School, Leoti, Kansas  A.L. Stanback Middle School, Hillsborough, North Carolina  Polo School, Polo, Missouri  Ashland High School, Ashland, Ohio  West Middle School, Leavenworth, Kansas (to p. 42)

(continued from page 55) their success will depend on their ability to impart that knowledge, insight, and understanding to their students. It will depend on their ability to teach.

The conductor just smiled.

What leads to successful teaching? There really is nothing new to offer here — just reminders of that which we all know. If one is to become an effective teacher on the podium, there are a few simple guidelines.

There is no doubt that the baton is the most effective communication tool we have. It is also the most efficient, the most artistic, and the most personal. And, if we were all professional conductors it would be our primary means of communication with our musicians. But, as teachers we need other communication skills. Sometimes the lessons learned when the conductor steps off the podium are as important as the lessons learned from the baton. There are certain elements of music that must be explained. And if we study teaching with the same intensity as we study music, we will consult the masters and observe their rehearsals. We will read, study, and practice ways of describing music that impart the essential value of the art form to our students in the most effective way.

Choose the best music If we choose music that has much to offer, our students will learn. We need to choose music that has artistic value — music that challenges not only the technical skills of our students but also encourages them to listen to the complexities and texture within the score. We need to choose music that has unity of form and at the same time offers variety of color, timbre, and instrumentation. There is much music available for our school bands and orchestras that offers our students the same aesthetic value of that of the professional concert hall, even if it is not as difficult. Seek out that quality, and your students will learn.

I have a dear friend who begins many of his rehearsals with a reading of Air for Band by Frank Erickson. He seldom speaks before, during, or after the reading, but he believes that his students have learned a great deal just by playing the piece over and over. And indeed, I believe him. The piece, though simple and most approachable, is of such good quality that students learn just by being exposed to it.

Choose music that is within the ability level of your students How much time do you want to spend teaching notes and rhythms? And how much time would you rather spend teaching about phrase, and balance, and expression, and interpretation?

The answer, for most of us is pretty obvious. Most would rather spend time on the aesthetic and artistic value of music. And yet, we often choose music that is so difficult that the amount of time left for the essential value of the music is at a minimum. I once heard a band director approach an honor band conductor during a break and say, “Gee I wish I had the time to spend on phrasing and expression the way you do. By the time I teach them the notes and rhythms and get it in tune it’s concert time.”

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Learn to communicate effectively

If we view teaching as an art, then it is an art form in which we can improve our skills. Our task then is to make the very words we use to describe music artistic. The language of the gifted conductor/teacher approaches poetry itself.

By virtue of your reading of this article it appears that you have chosen to be a teacher. What a noble profession. For, essentially, there is as much nobility in teaching a fifth grade trumpet player how to play a dotted quarter and eighth note as there is in directing the Philadelphia Orchestra. Simplistic? I don’t think so. All one has to do is remember is that that conductor and all those magnificent musicians would not be where they are without the gifted teachers that lead them to such artistry.  Gregory B. Rudgers is retired from teaching music in the public schools after thirty-five years, but he is not retired from the art of music. He is now a full time composer, with music for band and orchestra published by several prominent publishers. He has written articles for The Instrumentalist, the Music Educators Journal, Teaching Music and state journals.

Taking a look at

Allan McMurray’s “Kindred Spirits”disc #3 from the

“Conducting from the Inside Out” series

by Bob Margolis

T

he title is “Kindred Spirits”: Four conductors all of a kind in their love for music, but distinct in their personality and approach.

Allan McMurray is the great facilitator; he assembles the musical personalities and provides the forum for these filmed teaching-rehearsals.

H. Robert Reynolds is the doyen of the band world; the most experienced conductor, an unassuming man of quiet skill who is always learning and listening.

Richard Floyd is the warm and avuncular educator, a clockwork of animation while conducting, a man capable of amazingly rapid thought at the service of the music itself.

And finally the remarkable Craig Kirchhoff, a musician totally possessed of the music he conducts, absolutely in touch with sound and time.

These four assemble for two hours of rehearsals of four signal works, rehearsing the winds at the University of Colorado. It’s a remarkable two hours and well worth study by all conductors and lovers of music.

I’ve never had the privilege of playing in any bands under these four men; in fact, my experience has been from the other side of the stage. Director Tomas Purcell brings you front and center, and lets you experience these men from the vantage of the performers. The camera is fixed on the conductors much more than the players, for this video is about how to communicate ideas about interpretation and performance.

We see Richard Floyd extemporaneously finding ways to ad-

dress every moment’s musical needs in a deft conducting of the joyous Suite Provençale of Van der Roost; Mr. Floyd is the Aristotle of conductors as he questions the band to address issues of musical importance.

Quite different is Craig Kirchhoff conducting Shostakovich’s dark Prelude; so total is the transformation of conductor that we sense that Shostakovich is momentarily residing inside Mr. Kirchhoff; it even affects the conductor’s stance, movement, and expression, and more than that, the slow speed at which stance, movement, and expression evolve throughout the work.

In a way it is a superhuman feat of conducting. Are there more out there like him? I think not.

Finally, Allan McMurray himself conducts the Intermezzo from Holst’s First Suite in Eb; or I should say, he doesn’t quite conduct it, as he plays a neat trick.

He lets the players take responsibility for carrying the beat throughout and in doing so he imbues the music with a cohesiveness it otherwise might lack. This is an impish feat for which I applaud Mr. McMurray -- it is just right for Intermezzo.

I can’t leave out Bob Reynolds. If Robert Redford had become a conductor I think he would have become Bob Reynolds. He is at ease with the music; it all for him seems to come easily. That’s what happens when you have real talent for something.

I can’t think of a better way to learn about differing approaches to conducting; it’s probably the best DVD in the “Conducting from the Inside Out” series to date, and well worth owning.

(DVD from GIA Publications)  www. MBM

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Purchase music, download free MP3s, view scores, and more at www.ManhattanBeachMusic.com

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Grade 5 – vintage Broege, essential repertoire for university bands.

Grade 4 – three-dimensional in its scoring, poignant in its beauty.

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Grade 3 – featuring a bluesy trumpet solo; music for a quite summer’s night.

Grade 2 – Ticheli’s young band debut; imaginative in structure and texture.

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Grade 3 – three famous English carols deftly set for glorious sound.

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Grade 4 – early Stamp, strong percussion writing, dramatic, neoclassical.

Grade 4 – chirps, chiffs, bings, clangs, dings delightful Renaissance dances.

Grade 4 – split your band in choirs, separate them spatially, and recreate St. Mark’s Cathedral in sound.

Grade 3 – Ticheli’s neoclassical debut (thing Rimsky and Sergei); a work of special worth and gemlike perfection.

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AWAKE! C O N C E R T

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Grade 3 – two songs, one lyrical, the other rhythmic, immensely popular.

Standard repertoire.

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Grade 4 – Bach’s extraordinary melody in a seriously authentic setting, a delight for band.

Grade 4 – Brahms for band; demanding triplets; lush.

Raising the Standards of the American Concert Band, and Bands all Over the World

TRANSCENDENTAL

www.ManhattanBeachMusic.com

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Grade 2 – sweet music for young band, simple, genuine, full of feeling.

Enter The

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Grade 5 – in antiphonal choirs; a slow work that builds in grandeur.

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Grade 4 – from the starry waltz to dramatic visions of Aldebaran & Sirius.

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Grade 2 – a regal and spirited work with an intriguing nonstepwise melody.

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Grade 3 – look to the skies, they’re here, so beware!

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Grade 4 – mesmerizingly deft, for better university bands.

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Grade 4 – Markowski’s debut work demonstrates extraordinary agility, speed, and aptness of ideas. Rhythmic.

Raising the Standards of the American Concer t Band, and Bands all over the World

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Grade 1 – Blackshaw has broken the barrier – world music of deep spiritual value for the youngest players.

A SHAKER GIFT SONG

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Grade 2 – The most lovely of ‘harvest’ melodies; a warm Thanks-giving.

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Grade 3 – Alakazam! The elfin twin of Sun Dance.

N F O U RN W WINDS W E E S S W E E W W E S TIMOTHY S N B R O E G EN T H E

SINFONIA XVII

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Grade 3 – The famous tune and three more Shaker songs form a varied suite of dances. See also A Shaker Gift Song.

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Grade 4 – The power and majesty of the Sun in total eclipse.

Grade 4 – Ghosts may be from France; mischievously syncopated & joyful.

Grade 2 – The perennial favorite, highly original.

Grade 4 – Splendid for honor bands, Ticheli’s filmic journey, rhythmic and passionate.

Grade 4 – The travels and tales of Odysseus; ideal for honor bands.

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Grade 1 – Broege’s best-selling suite.

Essential repertoire.

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Grade 2 – Powerful and dour, from the Texas prison chain gang song.

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Grade 5 – Ticheli’s second tour de force. Essential repertoire.

Grade 6 – Ticheli’s third tour de force.

A masterpiece. (mvt. 3 only Gr. 5)

Grade 5 – Pastoral, brilliant, deeply thoughtful, soaring horn lines.

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Best Music for Chorus and Winds

eries.com

Keith W. Kinder

Music.com

Best Music for Chorus and Winds

by Keith W. Kinder

foreword by Frank Ticheli edited by Bob Margolis

w w w. B e s t M u s i c S e r i e s . c o m

This book will stimulate new ideas, new ways of thinking about concert program“ming.

It will point out new ways to excite young musicians, and new ways for them

to experience and express beauty ... The practice of filling each concert with a string of five- to fifteen-minute works from the standard repertoire has long become outdated. Best Music for Chorus and Winds will uncover new paths as well as forgotten ones, providing a richer, more varied concert experience. Every choral and wind musician should own this book.

Frank Ticheli

”

from his foreword to Best Music for Chorus and Winds

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Charles Ives’

Three Harvest Home Chorales

7:40 min. Mixed Chorus 0000/0431, db, org.

Mercury Music (Theodore Presser) IVES Charles: Three Harvest Home Chorales (1898-1912). Mercury Music (Theodore Presser). Mixed chorus, 0000/0431, db, org.

(7:40 min.) three, and is perhaps the most musically interesting. The poem is Ives composed these chorales in the late 1890s, but the score disapfilled with circular imagery, which is reflected in the musical materipeared and the composer recreated them from memory. They are als. A twelve-bar harmonic sequence composed of juxtaposed major complex in many musical parameters. Rhythmic and metric coinciand minor triads sharing the same root, forms an ostinato that ocdence is the exception rather than the rule. The performing forces curs four and one-half times. The chordal pattern within the ostiare divided into three groups — chorus, brass, organ — and present nato is palindromic, and set over a continuous separate musical layers that are usually in contraC-sharp pedal. Metrically, this movement is puntal opposition to each other. The harmonic These movements present very complex. Three simultaneous metric layers, context, a mixture of triads, polychords and clusenormous performance in the relationship 6:9:4, are presented (Hitchters, is further complicated by long pedal points, challenges.

Individual lines cock 1977, 37). The vocal parts are primarily and open fifth cadences. lyrical, although very chromatic, and are freThe texts are 19th-century religious poems. Ives are angular, chromatic and quently doubled by the brass. designed his music to reflect not only the structure in complex contrapuntal The final chorale, Harvest Home, is celebratory of the poems, but also his profound understanding relationships to each in character. Much of the vocal style is declamaof their imagery. Because of their devotional chartory, is often imitative, and ultimately becomes acter, Hitchcock believes that these settings may other… However, despite contrapuntally dense, as if to reflect a large conhave been intended for church service use; however, these obvious challenges gregation participating in a harvest celebration.

Ives himself called them “a kind of outdoor music to performers and listeners Much of the movement is set over a C pedal. In ... [having] ... something in common with the trees, rocks, and men of the mountains in days before alike, these chorales project a striking example of musical unity, the tonic, subdominant and dominant chords of C major machinery” (Hitchcock, H. Wiley. (1977) Ives: A a deep religious spirit, which appear in sequence during the introduction, Survey of the Music. Oxford: Oxford University has assured them a place then reappear as the final chord. Henry Cowell Press, 35-6). considers this particular polychord to be “a The first chorale, Harvest Home, is generally rein the musical literature. symbol of universal praise” (Cowell, Henry, and strained. A prominent organ part creates the illuSidney Crowell. (1974) Charles Ives and His sion of a church service. The subdued mood is broMusic. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 157). ken at the end of each verse by a chorus/brass outburst. Both These movements present enormous performance challenges. Indistructure and style are implied by the poem, which has the character vidual lines are angular, chromatic and in complex contrapuntal reof a sermon that acknowledges the difficult life of the common peolationships to each other. The harmonic context is consistently disple, and promises them rich rewards. This movement is the most sonant, and the three musical layers are difficult to relate aurally. rhythmically coincident of the work, but does contain a brief senza However, despite these obvious challenges to performers and listenmisura section for the chorus. Vocal lines are marked by wide skips ers alike, these chorales project a deep religious spirit, which has asand each part covers a substantial range. sured them a place in the musical literature.

The second movement, Lord of the Harvest, is the longest of the

by Dr. Keith Kinder

This review is reprinted from the book, Best Music for Chorus and Winds, by Keith Kinder (Manhattan Beach Music) www. MBM

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Karel Husa’s

Apotheosis of

This Earth

22:10 min. Mixed Chorus & Band

Associated Music Publishers

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USA Karel: Apotheosis of This Earth (1971 and 1990). Associated Music Publishers Inc. - Rental. Mixed chorus, band.

by Dr. Keith Kinder

(22:10 min.) cludes his program note with the question: Why have we let it happen?

The original version of this composition was The band-chorus version of this work seems more effective than the origcommissioned by the Michigan School Band inal since it makes explicit the voice textures implied in the first scoring. and Orchestra Association, and was dedicated to The chorus is used as an additional sound color rather than as a means Dr. William Revelli on his retirement from the of enunciating a text. Except for the point of destruction in the second University of Michigan in 1971 (Husa 1974). It was scored for movement, and the end of the work, no actual words are presented. The band with some spoken dialogue. Husa transcribed the work for text consists of syllables chosen for their timbral effect. During the fiorchestra and chorus in 1973, and prepared a third version, for nal movement, the phrase “this beautiful Earth” is spoken over and over, band and chorus, in 1990. but initially all three words are presented simultaneously and spread over The composer has indicated that the piece was “motivated by many notes so that the phrase is unintelligible. At the very end of the the present desperate stage of mankind and its immense probwork, rhythm and words are coordinated so that the phrase is projected to lems with everyday killings, wars, hunger, extermination of the audience. In this version, as in the original, Husa requires the instrufauna, huge forest fires, and critical contamination of the whole mentalists to participate in the articulation of this textual fragment. environment” (Husa 1974, record jacket notes for While this composition is based on a twelve-tone Apotheosis of This Earth, Golden Crest LP CRS-4134). row, the juxtaposition of textures is a more important The band-chorus This work attempts to represent musically the ultimate compositional element than any serial manipulations. version of this work result of these problems — the complete destruction Clusters in extreme registers and played by small of the earth itself. groups of instruments contrast, or combine, with othseems more effecA program note, written by the composer and printers spread over a wide range and involving much of tive than the origied in the score, provides substantial insight into the the ensemble. Sections employing controlled aleatory nal since it makes genesis of each of the work’s three movements. Acoccur frequently. Most of these sections superimpose cording to Husa, the first movement, Apotheosis, devery rapid melodic motives to create an intense, agiexplicit the voice scribes our earliest view of the earth; it appears first as tated atmosphere. Others utilize sustained notes in a textures implied in a bright dot in space. As we approach it, we can gradquiet context. Quarter tones and approximate pitches ually imagine and remember its history. A xylophone the first scoring. The also appear. solo near the end of this movement represents those The large percussion section is an important expreschorus is used as an particularly tragic moments in the earth’s existence. sive element in the work. Timpani are used soloisticaladditional sound In the second movement, Tragedy of Destruction, the ly, and are often interlocked with other instruments in music presents a graphic depiction of man’s merciless the presentation of melodic or rhythmic ostinati. The color rather than as attack on nature. At the end of the movement, the xylophone contributes a significant solo in both the a means of enunciearth “dies as a mortally wounded creature” in a catafirst and last movements, and other percussion instruating a text. clysmic (perhaps nuclear) explosion. Postscript, which ments regularly provide musical momentum to otherconcludes the work, presents a destroyed earth strewn wise static sound blocks. around the universe. Voices, at first mechanistic and Apotheosis of This Earth is a cornerstone of the reperinexpressive, emerge from the fragments. Gradually the voices toire for chorus and large band. Enormously challenging musically and draw together to quietly, and with an immense sense of loss, technically, it is also a profound and deeply moving composition. enunciate the simple phrase “this beautiful earth.” Husa con-

This review is reprinted from the book, Best Music for Chorus and Winds, by Keith Kinder (Manhattan Beach Music)

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