Composition of the Week

#93– May 03, 2021 MYSTERIES OF THE HORIZON Concerto for Cornet and Wind Orchestra I. The Menaced Assassin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3SOrnVt2F8 II. The Dominion of Light https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5UBpEXlGa0 III. The Flavour of Tears https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wEq9tcwyiE IV. The Discovery of Fire https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeOF-JG7d9I “Mysteries of the Horizon” by British composer Nigel Clarke is our Composition of the Week. The concerto was written in 2012, first in a version for Brass Band, and shortly after for Wind Orchestra. It is cast in four movements, each title baring the name of four paintings by the Belgian Surrealist painter René Magritte, on which the concerto is based. Mysteries of the [...]

#92– April 26, 2021 BERND ALOIS ZIMMERMANN (1918 - 1970) RHEINISCHE KIRMESTÄNZE for Chamber Winds https://soundcloud.com/user-642642570-907922214/rheinische-kirmestanze-for-13-wind-instruments Rheinische Kirmestänze by German composer Bernd Alois Zimmermann is our Composition of the Week. This suite for 13 wind instruments was written in 1950. It was then revised in 1962 prior to its premiere, on August 13, 1963. Rheinische Kirmestänze, that we could translate as dances from the Rhine fairs, is composed in five short movements, using mixed and changing meter, tonal harmonies and with rather accessible technical demands. The detailed instrumentation is 2 flutes (2 piccolos) 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, 2 bassoons (also contrabassoon), [...]

#91– April 19, 2021 DANIEL D’ADAMO (1966) NUITS-CASSATION for 18th-century wind instruments https://soundcloud.com/user-642642570-907922214/nuits-cassation-by-daniel-dadamo Nuits-Cassation by Argentinian composer Daniel D’Adamo is our Composition of the Week. Nuits-Cassation uses the famous wind ensemble setting of Mozart’s Grand Partita, but more strikingly, it requires period instruments to tackle with aesthetics of the 21st century. Even though the etymology of the musical term cassation is uncertain, works using this title were common, especially in southern Germany, Austria and Bohemia in the mid-to-later part of the eighteenth century. The cassation is related to the serenade and the divertimento, and even to the nocturne, as a set [...]

#89– April 05, 2021 PAUL HINDEMITH (1895 - 1963) SYMPHONY in B-flat In celebration of the 70th anniversary of its premiere, April 5, 1951. Hindemith conducts Hindemith https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TFwFRXr0fo The famous Symphony in B-flat for Concert Band by German composer Paul Hindemith is our Composition of the Week. The symphony was written at the request of Lt. Col. Hugh Curry, leader of the United States Army Band, and it was premiered by the “Pershing’s Own” on April 5, 1951, under Paul Hindemith himself. Today we celebrate the 70th anniversary of a work that has become a cornerstone of the wind band repertoire. [...]

#88– March 29, 2021 Photo Credit: Phil Parsons VIET CUONG (1990) BULL’S-EYE for Chamber Winds https://soundcloud.com/user-642642570-907922214/sets/bulls-eyes-viet-cuong Bull’s-eye by American composer Viet Cuong is our Composition of the Week. Bull’s-eye was written in 2019 after a commission by a consortium of ten universities and organizations led by Nils Landsberg and the University of Kansas. The work is orchestrated for chamber winds and uses the following instrumentation: piccolo, flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, saxophone quartet, trumpet, horn, piano and 2 percussions. Bull’s-eye has a duration of 11 minutes and it is published by Viet Cuong Music. Other works for Wind Ensemble by [...]

#87– March 22, 2021 Photo Credit : Vincent Tullo NED ROREM (1923) SINFONIA for Fifteen Wind Instruments (with Optional Percussion and Piano) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9f3LR6MqJQ Sinfonia by American composer and writer Ned Rorem is our Composition of the Week. Ned Rorem's Sinfonia was written in 1957 as the first commission for the American Wind Symphony Orchestra and its conductor, Robert Austin Boudreau. “This brief symphony for brass, woodwinds and optional percussion counterposes a pair of lively and playful scherzi against a pair of lyrical and meditative slow movements. Composed not long after the composer's return to New York from France, the [...]

#86– March 15, 2021 Photographer Credit: Philip Gatward Sir HARRISON BIRTWISTLE (1934) PANIC a dithyramb for alto saxophone, jazz drummer, wind, brass and percussion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdUsn3Id77s PANIC by British composer Sir Harrison Birtwistle is our Composition of the Week. PANIC is a concertante work for alto saxophone, drums and ensemble written in 1995, in response to John Drummond’s request for a work to be performed at the Last Night of the Proms in his last season as director. The Proms is a very famous eight-week summer festival with daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually in the [...]

#85– March 08, 2021 MICHAEL GILBERTSON (1987) VIGIL for Wind Ensemble https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzLFJw1kX4c Vigil by American composer Michael Gilbertson is our Composition of the Week. Vigil was originally written for symphony orchestra in 2007. It was inspired by the vespers services of the Russian church. The work was the recipient of the 2007 Palmer-Dixon Prize as well as the ASCAP Morton Gould Award. In 2010 Gilbertson was commissioned by a consortium led by the Ohio State University to write the Wind Ensemble version. Both versions have a duration of 10 minutes. The setting for winds calls for a large ensemble including piano. [...]