Composition of the Week

#83– February 22, 2021 ALAN HOVHANESS (1911 - 2000) SYMPHONY No. 17; Op. 203 “for Metal Orchestra” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlLjtie9xJk Symphony No. 17, Op. 203 by American composer Alan Hovhaness is our Composition of the Week. Subtitled “Symphony for Metal Orchestra”, this very unusually scored work was written in 1963 on a commission from the American Society of Metals. The special “metal orchestra” comprises six flutes, three trombones and five metal percussion instruments, including chimes, glockenspiel, tam-tam and two vibraphones. Symphony 17 has a duration of about 23 minutes, its difficulty is rather moderate, and it is written in four movements: I - [...]

#82– February 15, 2021 STEVEN STUCKY (1949 - 2016) VOYAGES For Solo Cello and Orchestral Winds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JiG0gZou24 Voyages by American composer Steven Stucky is our Composition of the Week. The work was composed between mid-1983 and mid-1984 and was commissioned by the Yale University Band and written for cellist Lynden Cranham. The first performance took place in New Haven on 7 December 1984, with Thomas C. Duffy conducting. Voyages has a duration of 26 minutes and it is scored for Orchestral Winds. The detailed instrumentation calls for: Solo Vc. 3 (Picc.2)3(E.hrn).3 (BCl).3(DBsn)/4431.Perc (3). Cel. Pno. Hp. String Bass. “Although the music [...]

#81– February 08, 2021 HANS GÁL (1890 - 1987) DIVERTIMENTO Op. 22 For Wind Octet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af3T1Ja4ufw Divertimento Op. 22 by Austrian composer Hans Gál is our Composition of the Week. The divertimento for wind octet, with its rather unusual instrumentation of Flute, Oboe, two Clarinets, Bassoon, two Horns and Trumpet, was composed in 1924 as a commission for the 1925 Festival of contemporary music in Kiel, organised by the “Allgemeiner Deutscher Musikverein”, on whose committee Gál subsequently served, along with Alban Berg and Ernst Toch. "It is a divertimento in the original sense of the term: Open-air music in the character [...]

#80– February 01, 2021 Photo by Anna Maggý ANNA THORVALDSDOTTIR (1977) INTO - SECOND SELF for Chamber Ensemble https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmciDtpWnxY Into - Second Self, by Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir is our Composition of the Week. Into - Second Self was written in 2013, using the rather unusual instrumentation of 4 horns, 3 trombones and 4 percussionists. Thorvaldsdottir’s music is determined by the vastness and cool grace of the Icelandic landscape. Her “seemingly boundless textural imagination” and “striking” sound world have made her “one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary music”. Her music is composed as much by sounds and nuances as [...]

#79– January 25, 2021 EMIL HARTMANN (1836 - 1898) SERENADE OP.43 for Wind Octet, Cello and Double Bass I. Andante - Allegro, ma non tanto pastorale https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABPdrB9Oim4 II. Scherzo: Allegro vivace con fuoco https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hChK1Vt-rvA III. Intermezzo: Andante https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUjI1XjIBQc IV. Finale : Allegro moderato - Andantino religioso https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzQlwtuRBQc Serenade Op. 43 for chamber winds by Danish composer Emil Hartmann is our Composition of the Week. Serenade is likely the only work for winds by Hartmann and it was written around 1885. It is cast in four movements: I. Andante - Allegro, ma non tanto pastorale; II. Scherzo; III. Intermezzo; and IV. Finale. [...]

#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 [...]