Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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Composer: Alfred Reed
Year Published: 1972
Publisher: Alfred Music
Grade Level: VI
This piece would be a great piece for a more advanced, larger wind
ensemble in high school. It calls for a variety of interesting instruments that
may allow the director an opportunity to expand the ensemble and introduce
some new sounds. The piece is lengthy (approximately 12 minutes) and
would be great for building musicians endurance. This piece also presents a
great chance for the director to bring up discussion on folk music from
another country, especially a country that most American students in the
public school system probably do not know much about. An entire unit on the
country could be presented and the director could use this information to
help shape the way the ensemble makes its musical decisions.
Piece: Arabesque
Composer: Samuel Hazo
Year Published: 2008
Publisher: Hal Leonard
Grade Level: V
The William Byrd Suite is a set of 6 pieces written to honor the 300th
anniversary of Byrds death. Throughout the piece, Jacob has transcribed and
rescored Byrds original keyboard pieces for wind ensemble. The set of
pieces is described as increasing in intensity through use of added texture,
complexity, and embellishments instead of relying on dynamics. Though the
piece travels through several styles, the entire thing is very stately, and
Jacob stays mostly accurate to the original melodies, harmonies, and forms
but writes utilizing the full possibilities of wind instruments timbres. He also
makes use of variation and embellishment to develop each of the pieces and
give them variety. The piece is written for piccolo, flute, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons,
6 clarinets (including soprano and alto clarinet), alto saxophone, tenor
saxophone, 2 cornets, 2 trumpets, 4 french horns, 3 trombones, euphonium,
tuba, and timpani. Other percussion parts include bass drum, cymbal, and
snare drum.
The William Byrd Suite is another challenging piece for a more
advanced high school wind ensemble. It would be great for a conductor who
is looking for variety in their program and needed a piece that harkens back
to 17thC harmony and style. The piece is longer, but the conductor could
choose to perform any one of the contrasting movements, depending on the
type of piece needed to create a balanced concert cycle. Choosing to focus
on only a portion of the movements might also be useful for a director who
thinks the piece might be too much of a challenge for their ensemble.
Overall, musicians could learn much about history, style, and contrast by
performing this work.
Piece: Elegy
Composer: John Barnes Chance
Year Published: 1972
Publisher: Boosey & Hawkes, Inc.
Grade Level: V
This piece would represent a great challenge for students who need to
have more experience with listening and playing very soft, intimate pieces.
Another great focus of this piece would be intonation, as the thin scoring and
sustained notes make for some difficult tuning spots. The piece is has
gorgeous lines and would also be another opportunity for the conductor to
discuss how composers receive commissions and the way in which they
compose for different occasions. They could also talk about the importance
of musicians in delivering the music so that it accurately portrays the intent
of the composer.
Despite being a level IV, this piece would be more accessible for more
intermediate ensembles. The rhythms are not too difficult and many students
will probably be familiar with the melody of the piece. It would be a
wonderful choice for a conductor who is looking for a piece to add to a
concert with which much of the audience will be familiar. The piece also
holds musical value in its rich harmonic texture and subtle style variations.
The ensemble will have to listen carefully for balance to ensure that the
melody is heard as it is passed around from section to section in different
portions of the piece. Conductors can also use this piece as an opportunity to
refine dynamics and intonation, as the piece works with a lot of sustained
notes that travel through several dynamic levels.
This piece would be perfect for a beginner ensemble that may not have
full wind ensemble instrumentation. It is very short and features a fun
rhythmic melodic line that is not too difficult for early instrumentalists. The
clear form of the piece also offers the teacher a chance to discuss form,
perhaps allowing the students to look at this piece and analyze its form for
themselves. The piece is light and bouncy, opening up discussions on style
and articulation and how to match light articulation across the variety of
ensemble sections.
Jesu Joy of Mans Desiring is based off of a cantata by J.S. Bach under
the same name. The original work features choruses and arias with later
recitatives and movements added. The melody present in Reeds wind band
arrangement of the piece is taken from a cantus firmus chorale prelude. It is
a sweet, flowing melody that features beautiful counterpoints between the
different sections of the band. The music makes use of several dynamic
swells and features constant motion that propels the piece forward to reach
a content, settled end. This piece is written for 3 flutes, 2 oboes, English
horn, 7 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 alto saxophones, tenor saxophones, baritone
saxophone, bass saxophone, 3 trumpets, 2 cornets, 4 french horns, 3
trombones, euphonium, tuba, string bass, harp, and timpani.
This piece is one that many students have probably heard but not
played before. The melody is a continuous line that passes through the band
and is supported by harmonic accompaniment. This piece is fairly repetitive
and not too difficult, so it would be very appropriate for an early or
intermediate ensemble. The piece could also be used as a teaching tool for
one of the most important composers of Western music, JS Bach. The
conductor might discuss the genre of the cantata, the specific cantata from
which this piece came, and how it relates to the way the wind band should
perform it. Jesu Joy of Mans Desiring allows a wind band to perform
repertoire originally composed by a famous composer who never wrote
material for that specific ensemble.
Air for Band harkens back to certain practices found in the Baroque
and Classical periods, and thus is often labeled a neo-classic. It is in a binary
form with melodies and harmonies that sound reminiscent of Bach. It begins
quietly, in a minor key, and develops through the addition of instruments,
louder dynamics, and higher range. Approximately halfway through, the
piece reaches a climax before modulating to a major key and reaching a
maestoso ending. Erickson wrote this piece with beginning instrumentalists
in mind and included several opportunities for educational concepts to be
integrated into a rehearsal. The piece makes use of flute, oboe, bassoon, 3
soprano clarinets, alto clarinet, bass clarinet, 2 alto saxophones, tenor
saxophone, baritone saxophone, 3 trumpets, 4 french horns, 3 trombones,
baritone, tuba, string bass, crash cymbals, and snare drum.
Popular composer Anne McGinty wrote The Red Balloon after seeing
a painting of an older man with a small child who was holding a red balloon.
The piece is a moving and emotional portrayal of the balloon floating in the
air. The melody rises and falls as it travels throughout different sections of
the band, starting in the woodwinds before moving through the brass.
Gradually the dynamics of the piece rise and fall before coming to a subtle
climax. The piece also features several solo and soli sections. It is written for
flute, oboe, 2 clarinets, alto saxophone, 2 cornets or trumpets, an optional
tenor saxophone or horn part, low brass and woodwinds, bass drum, bells,
claves, snare drum, suspended cymbal, tambourine, and triangle.
Like stated in the program notes for this piece, Flourish for Wind
Band offers a unique opportunity for younger, less experienced players to
perform a piece written by one of the greatest composers for wind band. The
piece is very accessible and would be an appropriate opening to a concert
program. This piece could even be coupled with another piece written by
Vaughan Williams that may prove to be more of a challenge to the ensemble.
It would be an important introduction to the pillars of wind band literature in
the high school setting.
This piece is based off of a poem written by Dylan Thomas under the
same title. Instead of being a programmatic retelling of the poem, however,
this composition works to establish the mood and tone of the poem through
music. the entire piece is based around an motive that can be heard in the
very opening. According to the composer, this motive represents life force
that experiences struggles throughout its journey through the piece. Many
times strife is displayed in this particular piece through the use of polytonal
hymns and layering effects between the different sections of the ensemble.
The piece is scored for a wind band consisting of piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2
bassoons, 7 clarinets, 2 alto saxophones, tenor saxophone, baritone
saxophone, 3 cornets or trumpets, 4 french horns, 3 trombones, euphonium,
tuba, celeste or piano, timpani, bass drum, claves, crash and suspend
cymbals, glockenspiel, field drum, marimba, snare drum, temple blocks, tam-
tam, tom toms (4), triangle, and wood block.
This is another work that would only be appropriate for a much more
advanced ensemble. Its rhythms are complex and require a high ability to
count and listen to other parts. The piece is also more atonal and quite
lengthy, perhaps making it difficult for ensembles that struggle with
attention span or endurance. Its strengths, however, are many. The
conductor may (and should) choose to discuss the poem upon which the
piece is built, opening up a discussion of how music and the other arts are
related. Similarly, the conductor may take this opportunity to discuss
atonality or polytonal hymns and how they relate to the piece. This work is
highly expressive and represents the plight of man, something all performers
and audience members will be able to relate to.
David Holsinger uses the familiar church tune Jesus Loves Me as the
foundation for this work for wind band. It features a slower, legato melody
and harmonic accompaniment. The accompaniment provides flowing motion
that nicely contrasts with the simple melodic line. It begins softly before
crescendoing to reach a tutti climax and fading away to provide a calm close.
Holsinger wrote this piece for flute, oboe, 2 soprano clarinets, low reads, 2
alto saxophones, tenor saxophone, 2 cornets/trumpet, one French horn, two
trombones, euphonium, tuba, timpani, bass drum, bells, and suspended
cymbal.
This piece is a shorter, simpler piece great for musicians who are in
between beginner and intermediate. It would be a great way to introduce
students to multi-movement works, and provides three nicely contrasting yet
engaging movements. The conductor of this ensemble might also choose to
mention the history of the music, discussing the Renaissance Era and the
common sounds typical of that time. This piece offers a variety of styles with
which an ensemble could work and would be great as an interior piece for a
performance.
Reference List
Program Notes courteous of the Wooster High School Music Department at:
http://www.whsmusic.nvi.net/pdf/winterbandprogram99.pdf