wasbe-ed

#78– January 18, 2021 JOHN HARBISON (1938) MUSIC FOR EIGHTEEN WINDS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_8ew5JhNCE MUSIC FOR EIGHTEEN WINDS by American composer John Harbison is our Composition of the Week. Written in 1986, this 12-minute work was commissioned by the Council for the Arts at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and was first performed by the MIT Players under the composer's direction on 18 April 1986. It was chosen to represent the United States in the 1987 International Rostrum of Composers in Paris. Harbison’s MUSIC FOR EIGHTEEN WINDS is scored for the following instrumentation: 2222.ASAX/4221 “Music for Eighteen Winds is the result of the [...]

#77– January 11, 2021 ISANG YUN (1917 - 1995) HARMONIA for 16 Winds, Harp and Percussion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UIHR-FYZ_8 Harmonia by South Korean composer Isang Yun is our Composition of the Week. Harmonia was written in 1974, almost twenty years prior to his Wind Octet with Double Bass, signed in 1991. Harmonia has a duration of about 12 minutes and it was premiered on January 22, 1975, by the Herford Siegerland-Orchester and dedicated to its conductor and Yun’s friend Rolf Agop. The title is based on the ancient sense of the word harmony, as an ordered arrangement or agreement, whereby the differences or [...]

#76 – January 04, 2021 ADAM GORB (1958) YIDDISH DANCES For Chamber Ensemble https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgSjdAOI5PQ Yiddish Dances by British composer Adam Gorb is our Composition of the Week. Yiddish Dances has proved to be one of the most popular works written for winds in the last three decades. Originally for Wind Orchestra this version for Chamber Ensemble allows for a socially distanced small ensemble much more akin to the size of a traditional klezmer band. “Yiddish Dances was originally commissioned by Timothy Reynish to celebrate his 60th birthday, and he conducted the first performance with the Royal Northern College of Music Wind [...]

#75 – December 28, 2020 ROBERTO SIERRA (1953) OCTETO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxYexmrj2Do Octeto, by Puerto Rican composer Roberto Sierra is our Composition of the Week. Written in 2003, Octeto has a classical instrumentation (0222/2000) and a duration of 10 minutes. It is cast in nine short movements: Obertura Salseando Ecos Danzante Tonos Columnas Colores Escalas y algunos arpegios Finale   Octeto is very representative of Sierra’s style “fresh and personal melodic lines with sparkling harmonies and striking rhythms” American Academy of Arts and Letters. For more than three decades, the works of Roberto Sierra have been part of the repertoire of many of [...]

#74 – December 21, 2020 ÉMILE BERNARD (1843 - 1902) DIVERTISSEMENT Op.36 I. Andante - Allegro https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M36AguAbukI II. Allegro vivace https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3M8hAQroJTc III. Andante https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAROhuCb2HY Divertissement Op. 36 by French composer Émile Bernard is our Composition of the Week. We would like to go back to our series of chamber music works for winds to help you with some ideas in your programming for the upcoming concerts during the fall. This double wind quintet is an old favorite and has become a cornerstone of the literature for winds from the late romanticism. Like many other works from that period, Bernard constructs his [...]

#73 – December 14, 2020 LAURI PORRA NEAR AND DISTANT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxJecpIHzUA “Near and Distant” by Finnish composer Lauri Porra (1977) is our Composition of the Week. “Near and Distant” was commissioned by the Finnish Wind Band Association and is dedicated to Pekka Porra on the occasion of his 80th birthday. It was premiered on March 28, 2017, by the Guards Band. The work has a duration of about 10 minutes and it is written for standard wind band setting, although it has some openings for optional improvisation. In this recording you will hear an electric guitar, which does not appear on [...]

#72 – December 07, 2020 JAMES MACMILLAN SOWETAN SPRING https://soundcloud.com/user-642642570-907922214/sowetan-spring Sowetan Spring by Scottish composer and conductor Sir James Macmillan is our Composition of the Week. Sowetan Spring was written to commemorate the release from prison of Nelson Mandela in February 1990 and uses fragments of the South African people’s national anthem Nkosi Sikelel’ l Afrika. Sowetan Spring was a special BASBWE (British Association of Symphonic Bands and Wind Ensembles) commission, to mark Glasgow’s designation as Cultural Capital of Europe in 1990, with funds provided by BASBWE Scotland. Finished in 1991 and published by Boosey and Hawkes in the same year, [...]

#71 – November 30, 2020 JAMES STEPHENSON THE STORYTELLER in Memoriam Adolph “Bud” Herseth for Trumpet, Violin and Wind Ensemble https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibv4nsId9Q4 The Storyteller, by American composer James Stephenson is our Composition of the Week. Originally written for violin, trumpet and piano in 2013, The Storyteller was orchestrated for chamber winds in 2017, with the support from the H. Robert Reynolds Commissioning Fund, to celebrate the University of Michigan’s bicentennial (1817 - 2017). This version was premiered on September 28, 2017. The Storyteller has a duration of around 9 minutes, and it is scored for: Solo C-Trumpet, Solo violin, offstage trumpet 2.1.Ehrn.2.BCl.Sax [...]

#70 – November 23, 2020 OLE SCHMIDT (1928 - 2010) HOMMAGE A STRAVINSKY for Orchestral Winds   Movement I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UioQ1GjI22A   Movement II https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBp1FxKZ9Yo   Movement III https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLugiMnUHXU Hommage a Stravinsky by Danish composer Ole Schmidt is our Composition of the Week. Written in 1985 and published in 2004, Hommage… has a duration of 10 minutes and uses the following instrumentation: 2.2.2.2/4.3.3.1.Perc (2) “Ole Schmidt is one of Denmark's leading composers and conductors; his Hommage a Stravinsky was written in early 1985 and has already been broadcast and performed many times in Denmark. The work is a humorous and affectionate tribute [...]