JAMES DAVID’S FLYING JEWELS WINS THE NBA’S 2022 WILLIAM D. REVELLI MEMORIAL BAND COMPOSITION CONTEST

BY MATTHEW MCCUTCHEN

Awelcome sign that our profession continues its march towards full recuperation from the damage done by the Coronavirus pandemic could be found in the fact that there were 95 entries in this year’s William D. Revelli Composition Contest. These included pieces ranging from promising high school students to those from some of the best-known and most widely performed composers in the profession. Following an exhaustive screening process, I am pleased to announce that Flying Jewels by James David is the winning selection of the forty-sixth annual contest.

James David is an internationally recognized composer who serves as professor of music composition at Colorado State University. Although he composes for a wide variety of solo instruments and ensembles, he has become particularly well-known for his works for wind band. His band pieces have been performed by some of the most prominent professional and university ensembles including the U.S. Air Force Band, the U.S. Army Field Band, the Dallas Winds, the Showa Wind Symphony

(Japan), and the North Texas Wind Symphony. His compositions have been presented at more than sixty national and international conferences throughout North and South America, Asia, Europe, and Australia including the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic, the American Bandmasters Association Convention, the College Band Directors National Association Conferences, seven International Clarinet Fests, the International Horn Symposium, the World Saxophone Congress, the International Trombone Festival, and the Percussive Arts Society International Convention. Commissions include projects for Joseph Alessi (New York Philharmonic), John Bruce Yeh (Chicago Symphony Orchestra), Zachary Shemon (Prism Quartet), the Aries Trombone Quartet, BlueShift Percussion Quartet, the National Band Association, and the Atlantic Coast Conference Band Directors Association.

Dr. David has been surrounded by band music for his entire life. His father, Joe A. David III, was a renowned high school band director and professor of music education in

South Georgia.

This lineage can be heard in his music through the strong influence of jazz and other Southern traditional music mixed with contemporary idioms. He started learning music as a trombonist in the sixth grade and, encouraged by his band director, also made his first attempts at composing. New worlds of music opened for him in high school when he began piano lessons and started singing in choirs, and a love for classical works and the Southern Gospel tradition were fostered. David was also influenced by his older brothers who studied jazz in college. These formative experiences all worked together to impact his composing style and musicianship. During his undergraduate studies at the University of Georgia, David was able to study jazz composition and arranging with the legendary Sammy Nestico, who affected his approach to everything from voiceleading, to orchestration, to pacing and form. David was also fortunate to play trombone in the American Wind Symphony Orchestra where he experienced the excitement of collaborating with composers and conductors. Their conductor, Robert

NBA/William D. Revelli Memorial Band Composition Contest, Matt McCutchen, Boudreau, commissioned hundreds of works and offered insight into the minds of some of the 20th and 21st centuries’ most impactful wind composers. During his doctoral studies at The Florida State University, he was commissioned to write his first piece for band for the historic Leon High School Band in Tallahassee, Florida. The experience of working with these dedicated student musicians and their outstanding teacher encouraged him to continue writing for band and collaborating with conductors as often as possible.

American Bandmasters Association Convention and offered David a potential commission on the spot. Unfortunately, it took more than two years before the work was completed due to the many challenges of the pandemic. Flying Jewels was part of the “Hope Arises” project and Col. Schofield’s only request was to write joyous and emotional music that would feel appropriate as the musical world slowly came back to life in 2021. Dr. David writes:

Flying Jewels was commissioned by US Air Force Concert Band, Col. Don Schofield, Conductor and Commander. Colonel Schofield heard the Colorado State University Wind Ensemble perform David’s Ghost of the Old Year at the 2019

“Flying Jewels” is a symphonic poem for wind ensemble that attempts to capture the joyous and hopeful spirit of a famous essay by the late author Brian Doyle. The title refers to how Europeans described hummingbirds when first encountering them in North America. Doyle’s essay muses on how intensely and passionately these tiny birds live their lives, with their hearts beating “ten times a second.” He also considers the blue whale’s giant heart, which beats as little as eight times a minute and can be heard from miles away. Ultimately, the essay asserts the connection that all people and creatures share; we all have one heart that carries us through life’s struggles, victories, and simple pleasures. My composition deals with the themes of Doyle’s essay by depicting the heart rhythms of different creatures through various metric/tempo modulations and relationships. First is the hummingbird, flitting about with bright flourishes from woodwinds and metallic percussion at superhuman speeds. A reptile’s three-chambered heart is heard next with nods to the triple-meter dances of the Caribbean. At the center of the work is the human heart, which is a simple tune that slowly builds to a cadence at the heart rate of a blue whale: four giant chords that resound under the ocean depths. Finally, the work recapitulates each idea while gaining speed to combine all the tempi in an exuberant and ecstatic finale.

Original essay published here: theamericanscholar.org/joyasvolardores/

Flying Jewels is scored for standard wind band instrumentation with optional English Horn, second oboe, contrabassoon, contrabass clarinet, and harp. Five percussionists are required to cover the parts (27 total instruments) and, as with most of David’s music, their input is crucial to the success of the piece. A competent pianist is also required as this voice is featured prominently in the middle section of the piece.

The work is 10 ½ minutes long and is in an “arch rondo” form in that it uses elements from Bartók’s arch forms and traditional sonata rondo. The recapitulation uses the “quodlibet” technique heard famously in the final movement of Bach’s Goldberg Variations. The piece has subtle references to classic US Air Force commissions by Claude T. Smith, Philip Sparke, and David Holsinger that careful listeners might recognize. While it was written for a premier military ensemble, it is accessible to many high school and collegiate ensembles as long as conductors are aware of the following challenges.

1. All upper woodwinds must be comfortable playing rapid (quarter = 162) 16th note passages. These are especially prominent at the beginning and ending sections when David is portraying flying hummingbirds. Flight of the Bumblebee is a good reference point, although in this piece the passages are spread among the woodwinds, so breathing is not an issue.

2. In general there are few range concerns, although flutes and first clarinets must be comfortable in their lower altissimo registers, and first trumpets need a high C. Writing idiomatically for wind instruments is one of Dr. David’s greatest strengths.

3. Stylistic playing through accurate articulation interpretation is crucial throughout the piece, nowhere more so than in the B (reptile heart) section that is in compound triple meter. Here the groove is in low voices and percussion and, if that never sets, the piece will not work.

4. The C (human heart) section features short, poignant solos in harp (cued in piano), French horn (cued in alto sax), and bassoon (cued in euphonium), and a lovely duo featuring solo oboe and English horn (cued in clarinet and alto saxophone).

5. The four percussion parts (besides timpani) were created specifically to accommodate social distancing requirements for the original recording. Using one or two additional players to cover some percussion instruments can facilitate performances.

Flying Jewels was premiered by the US Air Force Concert Band and a beautifully produced performance can be seen on Youtube by searching

“Flying Jewels: US Air Force Concert Band.” There is also a brand-new recording by the North Texas Wind Symphony conducted by Eugene Corporon on the GIA Windworks album Respair. The piece is available for purchase from Murphy Music Press. Ensembles that program the work will be profoundly rewarded. Full information on all his wind band works visit www.jamesmdavid.com.

The remaining finalists for the 2022 contest are listed below. Each of these are interesting and compelling pieces well-deserving of many performances and academic study. There are videos on Youtube of most of them, and you will note that the difficulty ranges from works written for a middle school ensemble, to one composed for The President’s Own United States Marine Band.

Dope – Katahj Copley

Dream of Ember, Dream of Star – David Biedenbender

Kung Fu – Shuying Li

Learning to Stay – Christina George Meaning in the Echoes – Kevin Poelking

Press On – Jessica Meyer

Spanish Dances – Luis Serrano Alarcon

I have been on this committee, in practically every role imaginable, for many years. It is difficult to remember a time that we have received this quality or quantity of entries. It is clear that wind band music continues to experiment, grow, and thrive.