wasbe-ed

#222– October 23, 2023 I.Moderato https://youtu.be/VPrRGPsnSso?si=bkDPuMy_XeLT8UVz II.Scherzo https://youtu.be/aWjyTFbrfxo?si=7Y49QUgG1g7seDUE III.Minuet.Grazioso https://youtu.be/LEYTtDRBkHw?si=VUF21VoH6-8fPdMh IV.Romance.Adagio https://youtu.be/UDIaQslnGpA?si=33YY7tYwNTgVHi2V V.Finale.Vivace https://youtu.be/argcmSif0L8?si=CwUc2AwHLw9Oz3Kh Serenade in F, Op. 102  by German composer, pianist and conductor Wilhelm Reinhard Berger is our Composition of the Week. Serenade was composed in 1910 and has a duration of 24 minutes. It is scored for 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons and 4 horns. The date of the first performance is unknown. Berger was born in Boston, USA, but raised in Germany. He began his musical career as a concert pianist. As a composer, he was often associated with the “Berlin academics” who were [...]

#221– October 16, 2023 I.Assemblée https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zb2DLbhDctY II.Contemplation https://youtu.be/K-e55aK322A?si=SyhyW9JIRYIcmKN7 III.Faisceaux https://youtu.be/3oTyRMCSHAA?si=i6s5fJjy7P_Ax3Dx IV.Météores https://youtu.be/E9luM-Pi4tA?si=P4aXjHu0ZwoYMehR V.Brouillard https://youtu.be/zibz2iunFLw?si=1_xCdVBse5JT-_ky VI.Choral Varié https://youtu.be/prtp4TbKSLw?si=luHaZyXxZdbjCHoN Créneaux, by Belgian composer and academic, baroness Jacqueline Fontyn is our Composition of the Week. Créneaux (slots), was written for symphony orchestra in 1982 and transcribed for Symphonic Band by the composer one year later, in 1983. “This work was originally conceived for symphony orchestra; it was written for young musicians or amateurs with the intention of familiarizing them with certain aspects of instrumental writing of our time. Jacqueline Fontyn has remained true to her own style whilst avoiding technical difficulties. The six, fairly [...]

#219– October 02, 2023 I.Marsch https://youtu.be/nhyGVluqmeY?si=T4f0AvkGqew0VDLb II. Mirror, pas de deux https://youtu.be/BngFXs52TII?si=xpN_GzyqkRFQ3qiv III. Aphrodite’s Farewell https://youtu.be/MAmmIcoxDkI?si=Ss26krYIXSUa9jBA IV.Finale (pub scene) https://youtu.be/USkpmmut20A?si=NiouMiFXcQapM4ax In celebration of the 80th anniversary of Hungarian composer László Dubrovay, Ballet Suite, is our Composition of the Week. The musical material of this suite comes from his two acts’ ballet “Faust, the Damned”, who was written in 1995. He has composed four orchestral suites that ballet in 1996, which have also been released on record and can be performed in concert halls; as well as a suite for wind orchestra in 1997. The latter was premiered on November 16, 1997, [...]

#218– September 25, 2023 Credit Harald Hoffmann https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxTnBGvwzoo Spraying Sounds of Hope, by Austrian composer, painter, writer, and filmmaker Olga Neuwirth is our Composition of the Week. Neuwirth’s work was written during the pandemic and was premiered on February 2, 2021, by the Gürzenich-Orchesters Köln, Germany, with François-Xavier Roth conducting. The piece belongs to a series of new works that are part of the project "Fanfares for a New Beginning", commissioned by the orchestra and sponsored by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation. Spraying Sounds of Hope is scored for: 3 horns, 3 trumpets, 2 trombones, 1 tuba and [...]

#217– September 18, 2023 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHV549DNkAg&list=PLBF_PdxPtAKVQpwpjRrC86WL-OM2qkCJl&index=6 Americanism, by Spanish composer and conductor José Vicent Egea Insa is our Composition of the Week. Americanism was written in 1997, and premiered some years later at the Teatro Gayarre, in Pamplona, Spain, on May 20, 2000, by the Banda de Música de Pamplona with José Vicent Egea conducting. Americanism was the compulsory piece at the Alicante Regional band contest during that same year. “Alluding to the title "Americanism" the work reflects the different musical influences received, especially during my stay in New York and specifically from the composers Charles Ives, Edgard Varèse, John Corigliano and [...]

#216– September 11, 2023 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6HdoCrZ-hs Concerto for Flute, by American composer, conductor, and teacher Anthony Plog is our Composition of the Week. Concerto for Flute was written in 1981, it has a duration of 17 minutes, and it is structured in three movements. I.Andante – Allegro Moderato II.Andante III.Allegro Vivace “The Concerto for Flute (1981) was written for my good friend Martha Aarons and was given its premiere by the University of Northern Illinois Wind Ensemble, Stephen Squires conductor with Martha Aarons as soloist. The flute is used in various ways to show its many moods and colors. The first movement [...]

#215– September 04, 2023 René Bernier and The Synthetists https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9F-X4trnPM Épitaphe II, by Belgian composer René Bernier is our Composition of the Week. During the coming summer weeks, we are presenting Belgian literature for wind orchestra by Paul Gilson and a group of his students who, in September 1925, joined their creative forces to form the first group of composers in Belgian history, called the Synthetists. The music they produced constitutes an unavoidable historical heritage of the early 20th century. This fresh and imaginative repertoire, of great artistic quality, remains curiously and unjustly unknown. Bernier composed his first Épitaphe for Brass [...]