News and Premiers

#62 – September 28, 2020 Photo Credit : Pascale de Srebnicki IN MEMORIAM CHRISTOPHE BERTRAND (1981 - 2010) AYAS For Symphonic Brass and Percussion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FI0R02iXUN0 We would like to dedicate our Composition of the Week to the memory of French composer Christophe Bertrand, at the 10th anniversary of his passing. Christophe Bertrand had an extremely short but brilliant and dazzling career. Unanimously recognized by the greatest names of contemporary music as one of the most promising talents of his generation. He studied piano at the Conservatoire de Strasbourg, in France, with Laurent Cabasso and Michèle Renoul; composition with Ivan Fedele and [...]

#61 – September 21, 2020 RICARDO LORENZ KING MANGOBERRY Five Allegories for Wind Symphony https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJnLEgEyMLU KING MANGOBERRY by Venezuelan-born composer Ricardo Lorenz is our Composition of the Week. This five-movement set was started in 1993 with the writing of its first movement as a single work. Later on, in 2017, Lorenz revised this original first piece to better suit the addition of four new movements. The result is a suite of about 23 minutes. Its movements are King Mangoberry’s Triumphant Entrance (3’25 Princess Cherrygys Reveals Her Dream (4’25) Sir Lempple Contemplates His Reflection in the Mirror (5’02) Jester Rumffee’s Juggling Fixation [...]

#60 – September 14, 2020 Photo credit: Jean-Baptiste Millot ROGER BOUTRY (1932 - 2019) TETRADE I - Allegro con fuoco (1’30) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQllCWn5HqY   II - Allegro Scherzando (2’25) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5z9gWqX22AQ   III - Andante Maestoso (6’10) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIBqUV74Ats   IV - Allegro Giocoso (3’) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoEAD3EZ2zI   Tetrade by French composer Roger Boutry is our Composition of the Week. It’s been just one year since the passing of maître Roger Boutry, and this presentation humbly honors his memory. He was a virtuoso pianist, renowned and internationally recognized conductor, ingenious and elegant arranger, as well as a great composer. Roger Boutry was admitted at 18 [...]

#59 – September 07, 2020 Photo credit: J.Henry Fair JENNIFER HIGDON OBOE CONCERTO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWkBKhFBhUc Jennifer Higdon’s Oboe Concerto is our Composition of the Week. The concerto was written in 2005 for the Minnesota Club, a small private commissioning consortium and it was premiered by Kathy Grennbank and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra on the same year. The Wind Ensemble version was completed in 2008, commissioned by three American universities. The Oboe Concerto is composed in a single movement and has duration of 17 minutes. It is available at Lawdon Press. Reviewing the world premiere, Michael Anthony of the Star Tribune lauded [...]

#58 – August 31, 2020 WARREN BENSON THE LEAVES ARE FALLING https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGKAcSXRsnw Warren Benson’s The Leaves are Falling is our Composition of the Week. The Leaves Are Falling was composed between 1963 and 1964. It has a duration of about 11 minutes and is written for a large Wind Ensemble, including Contrabassoon, Contrabass Clarinet, Soprano Saxophone, 3 cornets and 3 trumpets parts, String Bass and Harp. The work’s atmosphere is evocative, using sustained sonorities and extended, often dissonant, harmonies. The music is Benson’s statement of grief and vivid reaction after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Rainer Maria Rilke’s Poem [...]

#57 – August 24, 2020 HIROSHI HOSHINA KOSHI - AN ANCIENT FESTIVAL https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw695K5Jx9E Koshi - An Ancient Festival, by Japanese composer Hiroshi Hoshina is our Composition of the Week. Originally composed for orchestra under the title “A Festival” in 1978 honoring a commission from the Okayama University Symphony Orchestra for its 25th regular concert season. Later on, in 1980, Hoshina transcribed the piece for band upon a request of the Yamaha Symphonic Band, to celebrate the Band’s 20th anniversary. The premiere took place on June 29, 1980, in Hamamatsu. The Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra recorded the piece right after its premiere [...]

#56 – August 17, 2020 STEPHEN MICHAEL GRYC GUIGNOL Concerto for Bassoon and Small Wind Orchestra   Guignol, Concerto for Bassoon and Small Wind Orchestra by American composer Stephen Michael Gryc is our Composition of the Week. Disputes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhglFdIFMLA   A Strange Occurrence in the Night. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwIrTp2Xj0o   III. Running Amok. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUaOm43eE6U   Guignol, completed in 2016, was commissioned and premiered by conductor J. Thomas Seddon IV and the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse. The premiere took place on April 23, 2017, with Richard Hoenich as soloist. Guignol (which in French means marionette or puppet) has a duration of about [...]

#55 – August 10, 2020 LUCIANO FELICIANI SYMPHONY Nr.1 "Icelandic Waterfalls" Symphony Nr.1 “Icelandic Waterfalls” by Italian composer Luciano Feliciani is our Composition of the Week. "Icelandic Waterfalls" is the most recent composition by Feliciani, it has a duration of 30 minutes and it is cast in four movements. The music is programmatic, having each movement linked to a specific waterfall landscape o Iceland. 1 Waterfall of the Gods Largo, misterioso - Con moto - Maestoso, pesante - Vivo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WldQiBa82N0   2  Waterfall of the Mountain Largo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2tVrCsZYKQ   3  Waterfall of the Forest Allegretto https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2gsSgqGmgo   4 The Great Waterfall [...]

#54 – August 03, 2020 (Photo credit: John Rizzo) SUSAN BOTTI SULL’ALA Concerto for Saxophone and Wind Ensemble https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gf9uJB4U95Y Susan Botti’s Saxophone Concerto “Sull’ala” is our Composition of the Week. Sull’ala (on the wing, in Italian) was premiered on October 5, 2013, by the Hartt School Wind Ensemble (USA) with Carrie Koffman as soloist and Glen Adsit conducting. Written in three movements with two interrupting “murmurations” featuring the soloist and sax sextet, this 28’ minute work is inspired by flight. I. Propulsion - Murmuration 1 II. Torque - Murmuration 2 III. Aloft “Some of the different physical properties of flight suggested [...]

#53 – July 27, 2020 KIYOSHIGE KOYAMA KOBIKI-UTA for Band https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3J9pAlsiwYc Kobiki-Uta, by Japanese composer Kiyoshige Koyama is our Composition of the Week. Kobiki-Uta (A Woodcutter's Song) is among the most popular and successful works by Koyama, written after a traditional woodcutter's work song heard in Kyushu, in western Japan. Kobiki-Uta was first written for symphony orchestra in 1957. Some years later, in 1970, Koyama transcribed the work for symphonic band. It has a duration of 10 minutes, uses a standard wind band instrumentation, including piano and traditional Japanese percussion instruments, its difficulty is around Grade 4, which makes it very [...]