Jeff Girard and Midwest Sheet Music present
The Wind Band Report
Publisher news
Vol. 7, No. 2 October 2019 

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Hi everyone, hope the school year is starting off well for you all. I've been spending a lot of time this summer fine tuning aspects of the web site, and that's taken me away from this newsletter. Time to get back to telling you news and information about music in the wind band world. I'll be sending out some emails about new features of our web site you might not know about, but those will be separate from my Wind Band Report newsletters.

Today I'm going to talk about three publishers, and you may want to pay attention to what I have to say about LudwigMasters and Kalmus music. It's pretty important, especially if you are going to contest or doing a conducting symposium.
Carl Fischer Music
new editions of three classics
Carl Fischer has been taking some of their old classics and releasing modern editions with full scores, corrected music, and better engraving. Some of their most recent revised editions included Persichetti's "Bagatelles" and the Jenkins "American Overture"
Canzona
Peter Mennin

Peter Mennin was on the composition faculty at Juilliard for ten years, later returning to the school as its president for an unmatched 21 years. A lifetime composer with a sizable catalog of works which defy easy classification, Mennin wrote only one piece for concert band, the Canzona. From the Program Notes -- "Canzona is a short, brisk work, which opens with a declamatory idea expressed in massed sonorities. Next, a broad melodic line is introduced and supported by powerful rhythmic figurations. This is followed by a cantabile section. These materials are developed and expanded, and the piece closes with the opening statements brought back in a more dramatic presentation." Newly engraved and thoroughly edited for the first time.

#J54 - $125

Pageant
Vincent Persichetti


Persichetti's third work for band is a two movement exposition in different styles. The opening statement in the horns underpins a slow chordal movement, in which phrases are passed among different groups of instruments. A snare drum announces the beginning of the second movement, a polytonal parade. Newly engraved and thoroughly edited for the first time.


#J512 - $125
Battle Hymn of the Republic
Wilhousky / Tokke

This Critical Edition for Band edited by Justin P. Tokke has been crafted based on Wilhousky's original orchestral scoring. To enhance playability, generous cross-cuing and doubling of the choral parts have been applied in cases where the band version is played without voices. This new arrangement ensures complete compatibility with both the choral and orchestral versions, with matching measure numbers and rehearsal marks, and comes complete with a full score and parts produced with modern engraving standards. 

#J763 - $125
Maecenas Music
A wealth of music for all levels
I've been meaning to get this project done for a while, but it took some time to get it done right. As the US distributor for Maecenas Music, I've been stocking up on all their standard fare ( Awayday, Paris Sketches, Yiddish Dances , and more), as well as a good number of their lesser known works. Their catalog hasn't received a great deal of promotion here in the US, so now I'm taking care of that.

The link below will let you download a PDF catalog of many of their best works, sorted by grade level. I've updated all the prices to US dollars, and inserted links that will let you look at the score and listen to the work in most cases. They have works for beginning band all the way up to full 30+ minute symphonies. Don't try to get this all in one sitting. Look over the pieces in your grade level range and listen to a few. I think you'll find something in there that you'll like.

My personal favorite has always been Ghosts by Steven McNeff, but you also should check out Jazz Funeral and Snake Oil Salesman by Christopher Coleman, Boat Trip by Adam Gorb, Cathedral Variations by Fergal Carroll, and March on Three Folk Tunes by Gustav Holst, which pre-dated his Second Suite.

LudwigMasters and Kalmus Music
The end of an era
Many of you know that LudwigMasters Music (which also owns Kalmus Music) has been struggling for some time to fill orders. As of Wednesday, October 23, LudwigMasters and Kalmus Music have ceased operations . For the near future, we will not be able to get any more music from them except for what we have in stock. I've been told that they are looking for someone to buy their catalog, but I have no further information on that at this time.

Fortunately, I was able to acquire their entire stock of Lincolnshire Posy scores, and have a fair number of scores to their major chamber wind works like the Gounod Petite Symphony , Dvorak's Serenade , and Strauss' Serenade and Suite .

If you have a conducting symposium coming up this summer, or if you are planning on performing a LudwigMasters work for your High School contest, I'd advise you to give me a call well in advance to see where things stand. I do not know how LudwigMasters is going to handle "permission to copy" for contests. If you plan to use a Kalmus or LudwigMasters edition piece for a conducting symposium, score availability may be a big question mark right now.

I will say this, I am fairly confident that this catalog will eventually get picked up by somebody. I don't know who, and I don't know how long it will take to acquire or how long it will take to reprint music once it is done. I'm positive that the Lincolnshire Posy will not go out of print, as well as the other classic chamber wind works and the entire Kalmus orchestral catalog, but you should prepare to think about a plan B if you have plans to use one of these works in the near future.

Podcasts and Blogs
The Saint Louis Wind Symphony (SLWS) is a non-profit, all volunteer concert band dedicated to the highest-quality performance of the best wind literature. In addition to regular concert season, they now produce the Saint Louis Wind Symphony Podcast , highlighting works from upcoming concerts and interviews with musicians and guest artists.

One More Time is a bi-monthly podcast hosted by Illinois Bands. Each episode we will present a story on a topic that we hope appeals to anyone interested in wind band, both concert and marching. We will also include segments such as "Two Minute Rehearsal Techniques" for band directors and "History from the Archive" with Scott Schwartz, Director of the Sousa Archive and Center for American Music.

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 have several new works to talk about in the next issue, plus I'll be sending out a series of newsletters to all our customers talking about features with the website you may not know about. Thanks for your continued support, call or email me any time and I look forward to seeing some of you at the Midwest Clinic in a few months!
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