| |
|
|
Jeff Girard and Midwest Sheet Music present
The Wind Band Report
CBDNA Preview
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Vol. 7, No. 1 February 2019
Want to be added to a particular newsletter category?
|
Hello all, I hope you're all doing well this first half of the semester and not snowbound in your homes. I'll be heading up to the 2019 CBDNA National Conference in Tempe, AZ in another week, and I'll have my full compliment of scores and books on hand for you to look through. I wanted to give a little preview on some of the new titles that have come out in the last year that you may not know about. Click on any of the image links below to listen to the piece. As always, much of the new music at the conference will have QR codes you can scan with your smartphone so you can listen as you look at the scores.
|
|
We started acting as the exclusive distributor of Maecenas Music about 2 years ago and it's been going quite well. I've been doing a fairly good job of keeping their materials on hand, but I haven't done as good a job at promoting their newer works. It's time to remedy that.
In addition to wind band works, Maecenas has started publishing works for chamber ensembles. They have published like-instrument ensembles and chamber wind works, but recently they have started publishing some chamber works for a mix of woodwinds and strings. This can be a good way to get both string and wind players a chance to work with a family they may not often get to play chamber works with.
Click on an image below to listen
|
|
|
|
|
A charming and delightful piece described by the composer as being pitched somewhere between a barcarolle and a Satie Gymnopedie. There's lots of exposed chamber sections and variety within this 7 1/2 minute little treat.
|
War of the Worlds
Adam Gorb
A large scale, 20 minute work in five sections inspired by the famous novel and infamous radio play. A true tour-de-force for the entire ensemble with lots of challenging parts for all sections.
|
Pictures at an Exhibition
Mussorgsky
arr. Malcolm Binney
This is an original transcription of the original piano suite for band, rather than a transcription of the well known Ravel orchestration.
Grade 6
|
|
|
|
|
|
Another of Carroll's great Greek mythology pieces. This time the building of the walls around Thebes takes his imagination and leads into a world of glorious color, creative ingenuity and inspirational mood.
|
Lou's Mountain Bread
Clark McAlister
(Audio from chamber version)
A collection of American folk tunes presented in a four movement suite, but not in a traditional manner. The music is used as a stepping block to create a series of miniature intimate musical gems. Also scored for chamber winds, see below.
|
An exuberant opener originally celebrating the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 1977. Fast moving with a witty, sunny ambiance and martial references to English patriotic song, (No recording yet, but you can still see the score below.)
|
|
|
Maecenas Wind/String Chamber Works
The following new Maecenas works are scored for Woodwind Quartet or Quintet with String Quintet (2VN/VA/VC/SB). Click a title to see more information about each piece, view a score, and listen to the work.
|
 Other new works for Wind Band |
|
|
|
I Vow to Thee My Country
Gustav Holst / Geoff Knorr
(Note - the recording above is the orchestral version of this piece)
This is one of my favorite new works for this year, technically within the range of a good high school but musically mature enough for a professional ensemble. It's a new setting of Holst's "Jupiter Hymn", but there's more to it than that. Geoff Knorr originally wrote this as the theme for "England" in the video game "Civilization V". Someone asked him to transcribe it for band, and I'm glad he did. It's a superbly rich and lush setting with both chamber wind sections and powerfully full wind orchestral sections.
Grade 4
Set: $150; Score: $15
|
Our Cast Aways
Julie Giroux
Julie has had a pretty good year with the newest releases from Musica Propria. If you liked her
Riften Wed from a couple years ago, this piece will work well for you. This commission was written and dedicated to those who adopt rescue pets and work to end the existence of puppy mills. I won't lie, the pictures of all the rescue animals are adorable, but the piece stands on its own as a short, emotionally charged gem. Be sure to look up her
Symphony No. 5 and Ira Hearshen's
Reveille below.
Grade 4
Set: $95; Score: $20
|
|
|
|
|
African Harmony
Johan De Meij
This piece was commissioned by my friend Rich Fischer at Concordia University and was a finalist in the WASBE 2018 New Band Music Competition. Based on a number of authentic African folk songs from a variety of countries, this work can be done with or without choir. Additional SATB parts sold in packs of 25.
Grade 4.5
Set: $205; Score: $55
Extra Choral parts (25): $30
|
Metropolis 1927
Peter Graham
While this is not technically "new", I only recently discovered it. I lost track of Gramercy Music after I left Shattinger Music, and Peter Graham has put out some other good works for wind band since that time.This piece is based on the classic 1927 sci-fi epic
Metropolis. Rather than relate the plot though, the composer reflects on the visual style and set designs in the film -
the brooding machine rooms, the decadent nightclubs, the gothic cathedral, and so on.
Grade 5.5
|
|
|
|
|
Seven Short Fanfares
Nayoa Wada
Sometimes you just need a little something more to fill out your concert. Maybe you're a directors who prefer to start most of their concerts with some sort of fanfare. Maybe you have a special occasion that needs a short flourish presented to start things off. Whatever your needs, there's likely a fanfare in this collection that will work. The fanfares range from 40 seconds to 2 minutes, in a variety of keys and styles, including a 6/8 fanfare. It's also a good score if you're economically minded in your band's budget.
Grade 4
Set: $110; score: $22
|
Symphony #5 - The Elements
Julie Giroux
I don't normally include 2 featured items by the same composer and publisher in my newsletters, but this is different enough from Our Cast Aways to merit a separate mention. It's a 3 movement work, and you can buy the movements separately if you wish. With each movement (
Sun; Rain; Wind), Julie attempts to capture the awe-inspiring power and grandeur of these aspects of nature itself. Lots of color, layers of sound to take in, it's a good follow up to her previous symphony,
Bookmarks from Japan.
Grade 6
Complete Set: $410; Score: $85
Sun in C: $135; Score: $30
Rain in Db; $140; Score: $30
Wind in Eb: $200; Score: $45
|
|
|
I'd love to give a full presentation on every good piece that crosses my desk, but I know that's not practical. So in the interest of time, here's a further list of several upper level works I've made note of as being exceptional. If you have a few hours free, follow the links to listen to the piece and look the score or other information on our web site.
Stonage - Sara GaliAna; Gr. 4.5, $195
Havana - Kevin Day; Gr. 5, $235
Sensemaya - Revueltes / Janssen; Gr. 5.5, $175
The Nine - Randal Standridge; Gr. 4.5, $110
|
| New Reference Materials |
|
|
|
The New Winds of Change
Frank Battisti
This new edition combines and expands on all the materials from the origins Winds of Change and Winds of Change II. Battisti's book covers the entire evolution of the wind band from the 19th through 21st century, with a abundance of information about
wind band/ensemble literature, important conferences, concerts and events involving prominent wind bands and their directors.
Book: $44.95
|
Sousa's Marches - As He
Performed Them
Keith Brion
Noted Sousa scholar Keith Brion brings us an exploration of the performing style that created the "Sousa Sound". Sousa employed numerous devices to create a sound that was distinctly his alone, and Brion explores all these factors in great depth, from phrasing to instrumentation to dynamics and more. It's a great way to learn how to teach a new appreciation of the march style to your students.
Book: 24.95
|
|
|
Many summer Conducting Symposiums have been announced by means of the CBDNA listserv. During this week I will be reaching out to all of those directors to find out your repertoire and get a page set up on our web site where participants can go to get their music. I'll send out the links to the directors when I'm done. If you have a symposium coming up and you haven't announced it through the CBDNA List, let me know about it so I can get a page prepared for you.
However, take note - if you are doing a piece published by LudwigMasters Music (Ludwig Music, Masters Music, or Kalmus Music), there may be complications. I am working on getting multiple copies of the most commonly used works into the store (Strauss Suite, Strauss Serenade, Dvorak Serenade, Gounod Petite Symphonie, and Lincolnshire Posy). Until LudwigMasters crawls out of it's financial situation though, I can't guarantee I can get the scores for your participants, and neither can anyone else. I recommend you contact me if you have any questions about your seminar repertoire and we'll see where things stand.
|
|
A new Wind Band podcast
|
There's a new Wind Band podcast for wind band directors out now called Source Material. Hosted by Sean Dennison Smith, this podcast is a spin-off from a segment on the Illinois Bands podcast One More Time. Every two weeks Sean sits down with a composer of music for wind band to discuss one of their compositions. The composer provides background information on the piece and a "light analysis." Listeners hear the work as the composer talks about the piece during the analysis. Download a few episodes before you take off for CBDNA and take a listen on your plane ride or drive.
Also, as mentioned before, Mark Conner hosts a weekly podcast called Everything Band where he interviews notable composers, conductors, and other figures of the wind band world. You can download them on your favorite podcast app or go to his website.
Andrew Pease continues his academic work with the Wind Band Literature blog. He reviews performances of wind band concerts he attends, comments on works he conducts with his band at Hartwick College in New York and other groups, and writes about other topics concerning the wind band repertoire. I highly encourage all of you to follow both of these fellows and keep yourself regularly informed on a variety of relevant areas.
|
|
For those of you coming to CBDNA, talk to me about what we've done with our website and what you can do with it now. I've got a few more features to implement this summer as well, though maybe I'll get a head start while I'm in Tempe. For the rest of you, drop me a line any time and let me see how I can help you out. Thank you all, I'll see some of you next week in (warmer than St. Louis) Arizona!
|
Thank you as always -
Jeff Girard
Instrumental Specialist
Instrumental Music (my direct line):
314/942-1522
General phone line:
314/291-4686
Fax:
314/291-4166
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
1234 Main Street, Awesomeville, MA ยท 555.555.5555
|
|
|
|
