wasbe-ed

#49 – June 29, 2020 DAVID DEL TREDICI IN WARTIME For Wind Ensemble https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A993_D2AyWY David del Tredici’s In Wartime is our Composition of the Week. This is Del Tredici’s first composition for Wind Ensemble. In Wartime was finished at the beginning of 2003 after four months of gestation. With a duration of 18’ minutes, the work is divided in two uninterrupted sections: Hymn and Battlemarch. Both sections are inspired by the war the USA and Syria begun in 2003. The former reflecting hope and optimism, as opposed to the latter, getting us into the darkness and drama of war, confronting musical [...]

#48 – June 22, 2020 HUBERT HOCHE HOPE For Wind Band https://soundcloud.com/user-642642570-907922214/hope-hubert-hoche Hope by German composer Hubert Hoche is our Composition of the Week. The work’s premiere took place on June 1, 2019 during the German Music Festival in the city of Osnabrück and was performed by the Bayern Police Orchestra under Johann Mösenbichler. This first performance took place during the final round of an International Conductor’s Competition for which Hope was the compulsory piece for the conducting candidates. Hope was commissioned by the German National Association of Music Federations with the support of the GEMA-Foundation. It has a duration of [...]

#47 – June 15, 2020 RUBÉN DARIO GÓMEZ PRADA EL SOLITARIO Tone Poem for Wind Ensemble https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHI-4iM_REM El Solitario, by Colombian composer Rubén Dario Gómez Prada is our Composition of the Week. Written in 2019 and premiered on March 21, 2020, at the University of Nebraska Lincoln, El Solitario is the latest work for winds by Gomez Prada. It has a duration of 15 minutes and uses a standard wind ensemble instrumentation as well as piano and a large percussion section. “El Solitario, is inspired in the life of José María Acevedo y Gómez, also known as “El Solitario”, who was [...]

#46 – June 08, 2020 OMAR THOMAS COME SUNDAY “To all the black musicians in wind ensemble who were given opportunity after opportunity to celebrate everyone else’s music but our own - I see you and I am you. This one’s for the culture!” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZDB8OhQP4Y Come Sunday by Omar Thomas is our Composition of the Week. Thomas’s 11-minute, grade 6 work, received its premiere on November 15, 2018 by the Illinois State University Wind Symphony with Anthony Marinello conducting, who led a consortium that commissioned the piece. Come Sunday is written for wind ensemble including Soprano Sax, Piano and Drum Set. [...]

#45 – June 01, 2020 SALVADOR BROTONS SYMPHONY No 6, Op. 122 “CONCISE” Symphony N.6 “Concise” by Spanish composer Salvador Brotons is our Composition of the Week. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPaZM0BOqig (music starts at 1 minute, 11 sec.) The Symphony N. 6 is considerably short and does not follow an established external program. It is characterized as pure music. It has five direct movements, without much development or thematic manipulation, hence the subtitle of "Concise". The movements are the following: Frontal Courtship (Procession) Scherzo Passacaglia Finale Frontal With a duration of about 25 minutes, the work is orchestrated for a typical Spanish band setting, [...]

#44 - May 25, 2020 IM MEMORIAM JOHN PAUL ZDECHLIK (May 2, 1937 - May 21, 2020) CELEBRATIONS For Concert Band https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAlcHdZUiMg Celebrations by John P. Zdechlik is our Composition of the Week. We respectfully dedicate this obituary to his memory. John Zdechlik was an American composer, teacher and conductor. He has been elected to the American Bandmasters Association (ABA) in 1989. Many of his compositions have become standard concert band repertoire, including Psalm 46, Chorale and Shaker Dance and Celebrations. John Zdechlik began his tenure in 1970 at Lakewood Community College (now Century College) in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, where [...]