Composition of the Week

#153– June 27, 2022 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nepvFRZwS_s Trittico, by Czech composer and conductor Václav Nelhýbel is our Composition of the Week. Trittico was composed in 1963 for Dr. William D. Revelli who gave the first performance of the work in the spring of 1964, in Ann Arbor, with the Symphonic Band of the University of Michigan. It has a duration of around 10 minutes, and it is structured in three movements. I. Allegro Maestoso II. Adagio III. Allegro Marcato The first and third movements are, in several ways, related to one another: their character is brilliantly forward moving and energetic; the main theme [...]

#152– June 20, 2022 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxn9aMX4fdM Les trois notes du Japon, by Japanese composer Toshio Mashima is our Composition of the Week. This suite in three movements, « La Danse des grues », « La rivière enneigée » and « La fête de feu », was written in 2001 for the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra. It offers three visions of the Japanese environment and life. Les trois notes du Japon was premiered on April 27, 2001, by the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra, conducted by Douglas Bostock, followed by a German and Swiss tour right after. The work is scored for standard wind ensemble setting. It has a duration [...]

#151– June 13, 2022 Photo credit: Paul Chepikian https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0SGpeLO1Mo Suspended, by American composer Alex Shapiro is our Composition of the Week. Suspended was commissioned by Kappa Kappa Psi, National Band Fraternity, and Tau Beta Sigma, National Band Sorority, for the 2021 National Intercollegiate band. It was premiered on July 13, 2021, at the DeVos Performance Hall in Grand Rapids, Michigan, under Cynthia Johnston Turner. Suspended is scored for a standard Wind Ensemble setting, with a large percussion section. In addition to this instrumentation, the work requires an audio system capable of playing audio tracks from a laptop computer via a small [...]

#150– June 06, 2022 1stmovement – Poco Agitato (3’30) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2kgrzxWqDE 2nd movement – Allegretto scherzando (2’) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-8j_n0oSh4 3rd movement – Adagio (4’30) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Svgk7X1B8bw 4th movement – Fanfare e Rondo: Allegro ma non troppo (4’50) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiiF9vYixu0 Symphony Nr.4 by Belgium composer Arthur Meulemans is our Composition of the Week. Written in 1935 Meulemans’ 4th symphony belongs to a final output of fifteen symphonies, all written for symphony orchestra, number 4 being the only one written for winds and percussion. It was premiered in 1939 by the Belgium Radio Orchestra, under Franz André, great advocate of contemporary music of his time, and especially [...]

#149– May 30, 2022 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qskuoL3nf0Q O Magnum Mysterium, by American composer and educator James Syler is our Composition of the Week. O Magnum Mysterium is a transcription for wind ensemble and solo soprano of the composer’s choral work. This version was completed in 1996 and has a duration of 12 minutes. It is scored for standard Wind Ensemble setting, including String Bass, Harp, Piano and one Timpani part. “O Magnum Mysterium is an ancient Christmas Day text that describes the great mystery of God becoming man – even the animals behold him. In this setting I attempt to transcend time and [...]

#148– May 23, 2022 I. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krZU8cHSqto II. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIrZogGOmZM III. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BAfsqkJ7m0 Chamber Symphony 1, by American composer Daniel McCarthy is our Composition of the Week. Written in 1993, Chamber Symphony was commissioned by Cort McClaren, president of C. Alan Publications and the School of Music at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. The piece was premiered at the Southeast chapter of the Music Educators National Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina in the fall of 1994 with soloist Michael Burritt, professor of percussion studies at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. Chamber Symphony I has a duration of 14 minutes and it is written [...]

#147– May 16, 2022 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug8JfoJgGrg Circuits, by American composer and educator Cindy McTee is our Composition of the Week. Circuits was originally written in 1990 for the Denton Chamber Orchestra of Denton, Texas. Shortly thereafter, in 1991, McTee created a version for wind ensemble. Although, in 2011, she bought back the copyrights to Circuits and, following extensive editing, created a newly revised version. ... The inclusion of jazz elements and the playful manipulation of musical materials using syncopation, sudden transposition, and juxtaposition are also characteristic of the work. “The title, Circuits, is meant to characterize several important aspects of the work's [...]

#146– May 09, 2022 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-RsVAtYuCo “Cinq Bagatelles” for chamber winds by French composer and conductor Jean-Pierre Pommier is our Composition of the Week. These five short pieces were written in Toulon, France, between April, and August 2016. The movements alternate between fast and slow tempi, for a total performance time of about 15 minutes. They are scored for 19 musicians, detailed as follow: Flute 1, 2 (picc)/Oboe (Eng.Hrn)/Basson/Bb Clarinets 1 - 3/Bass Clarinet Alto Sax/Tenor Sax/Baryton Sax/Trumpet 1, 2/Horn/Trombone/Tuba/ String Bass/Percussion (2) “Cinq Bagatelles” are available directly from the composer. Other works for wind ensemble by Jean-Pierre Pommier include: Sinfonietta Op.23 [...]

#145– May 02, 2022 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxp7v7Fgg0o Music for eleven wind instruments and timpani by Russian composer Edison Denisov is our Composition of the Week. This work was composed in 1961 and premiered some years later, on November 15, 1965, in Saint Petersburg (Leningrad at the time), by conductor Guennady Rojdestvensky. This is Denisov’s the first serial work. It is scored for: Flute, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, horn, 2 trumpets, trombone, and timpani Music for eleven wind instruments and timpani has a duration of about 9 minutes and it is published by Edition Peters. Edison Denisov was born in Tomsk, Siberia, [...]

#144– April 25, 2022 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJRrFzU_AHw As the lights go out, by American composer Ben Robichaux is our Composition of the Week. This work was written in 2018 and has received the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award in 2021. It has a duration of 16 minutes and it is scored for standard wind ensemble setting, including harp, piano, as well as live electronics triggered from a laptop computer. Its movements are 1. Aftermath; 2. Down the Tunnel; 3. Resignation. “As the Lights Go Out is a physical and spiritual immersion into the brain of a dying person. This immersion involves the [...]