Thursday, May 26, 2011

Wind Band Composer Snapshot: Dr. Dana Wilson

Dr. Dana Wilson (1946-Present) American Composer/Pianist/Teacher
Dana Wilson, Composer
- Interested early on(HS) in improvisation and played guitar and piano.
- Holds degrees from Bowdoin College(BA Psychology, Music minor- 1968), UCONN(MA- Music Theory- 1975), and Eastman(Ph.D- Theory 1982)
- Was drafted for the Vietnam war and played piano in Germany during his tour.
- Has written music for ensembles such as the Chicago Chamber Musicians, Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, Netherlands Wind Ensemble, and the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra.
- Received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, New York Foundation for the Arts, New England Foundation for the Arts, New York State Council for the Arts, and Art Midwest.
- His compositions have won many awards, including the International Trumpet Guild First Prize, the Sudler International Composition Prize, and the Ostwald Award.
- Serves of the faculty teaching composition at Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York.
- co-authored “Contemporary Choral Arranging”, and has written for the “Composer's Insight” series(Vol. 4) and "Composers on Composing for Band, Vol. 2."
- It is said that he conceptualizes the wind band as a sort of large jazz band.

Major works for Wind Ensemble:
Piece of Mind(1987) 20min Gr V
- Premiered in New York City with the Ithaca College Band. Rodney Winther, Conductor
- Won both the Sudler Award(1987) and the Ostwald(1988)
- In 4 movements: I. Thinking, II. Remembering, III. Feeling, and IV. Being
- It’s a pun(peace of mind) and represents Wilson’s musical reflections on the inner workings of the human mind.

Time Cries, Hoping Otherwise- Concerto for Alto sax and Wind Ensemble(1990) Gr. V
- Commissioned by the University of Northern Arizona.
- Premiered by Laura Hunter and the Northern Arizona Wind Symphony at the western conference of the North American Saxophone Alliance in 1991.
- Also available for alto saxophone and piano.

Calling, Ever Calling – Concerto for Oboe and Wind Ensemble(1991) Gr. V
- Commissioned by the Mid-American Band Directors Association,
- Premiered in 1991 at the 50th anniversary convention of the CBDNA in Kansas City, with Michael Henoch, oboist with the Chicago Symphony, performing.
- This work is “to awaken the spirits, to one’s love, to dance so that we may forget...”
- At various times, the soloist calls to the audience or different members of the ensemble, and ensemble members call to each other

Dance of the New World(1992) 8 min Gr. IV
- commissioned by Belmont High School, Belmont, MA with funding from the Mass. Foundation for the Arts.
- completed 500 years, to the month that Christopher Columbus first landed in the New World.
- The piece is considered a tribute to the blending of styles and attitudes that has taken place in the “Latin” American region of this hemisphere where Columbus first landed.
- It is also intended to suggest the hopeful awakening of the Renaissance that his voyage symbolized.

The Shifting Bands of Time(1997) 12min Grade III
- Commissioned by Ohio University.
- Metric shifting challenges younger groups.

Shortcut Home(comp 1998, pub 2003) 3min Gr IV
- Premiered by the Hillsborough High School Band(NJ) with composer conducting in 1998.
- Written as an extended fanfare with jazz influences
- Home is C Major, which we arrive on with the final chord

Other works for Winds:
Avatar- Concerto for Bassoon and Chamber Winds(2006), Black Nightshade for four perc and wind symphony(2004), Clarion Call for brass and perc(1988), Colorado Peaks(2005), Concerto for Horn and Wind Ensemble(1997), Leader Lieder for trumpet and wind ensemble(2002), Day Dreams(2006), Evolution(1999), Footsteps(2010) harder they fall for Narrator and Wind Symphony(2004), Io Rising for brass quintet and wind ensemble(1993), Kah! Out of Darkness(1999), Liquid Ebony for clarinet and wind ensemble(2005), Liquid Gold for soprano sax and wind ensemble, trans. of Liquid Ebony(2005), Odysseus and the Sirens(2008), Remembrance(2005), Sang!(1994), Shakata: Singing the World into Existence(1989), To Set the Darkness Echoing...(2005), Uprising(1995), Vortex band, percussion, and piano(1999), When I Am Gone Away(2006), and Winds on the Steppes for 16 winds, piano, and perc.(1991)  

Dana Wilson is an incredibly prolific composer for our medium. You can listen to clips and find out more about him and his music on his website, http://www.danawilson.org/

In other news, I'm done with my first year of Graduate School in about a week and a half! I can't believe how fast it's gone and how much I've learned. 

Friday, May 20, 2011

Helpful Resources for Horn Playing and Teaching


The school is winding down. We have about two weeks to go here at Wright State. I couldn't be happier about choosing this school. I'm hoping that next year is even better.Hopefully summer will leave a little more time for blogging as well!

The following is a handout I'm working on for my brass methods course. I hope it's useful for them as they start to think like teachers. If any educators/horn players out there have anything I should I add please comment. If you found something you might use you should comment as well.

Helpful Resources for Horn Playing and Teaching
Compiled by Mr. Kyle Freesen
Wright State University Brass Methods

Method Books for Individual Study:
Skornicka  -  “Rubank Elementary Method”
Pottag/Hovey  - “Method for French Horn - Book 2”
Reynolds  -  “The Horn Handbook”
Kopprasch – “50 Etudes, opus 6” (HS/College)
Farkas  - “The Art of French Horn Playing”(not really a method book, but important reading)
Schuller – “Studies for Unaccompanied Horn” (Advanced players)
Ericson - Introducing the Horn: Essentials for New Hornists and Their Teachers

Websites:
- A website featuring a wealth of information. This includes an index of their journal, Horncall and tips of the month. You can find recordings, podcasts, and much more here.

- There is a searchable message board here covering a wide range of topics.

- A site by hornist and professor, Thomas Bacon, there’s a lot here, but most importantly go to the “Study Guide” as it outlines goals for players of all abilities and recommends method books, supplementary materials, and appropriate solos/ensembles to reach those goals. There’s even horn trivia!!

- A blog of sorts run by John Ericson and Bruce Hembd. New content is added daily. They even have a list of horn youtube channels.(A great way to get world class players into your classroom)

Resource Recordings:
“Mozart: Horn Concertos” - Dennis Brain, horn
“The London Horn Sound” - Horn ensemble music performed by 32 of London’s top players
“Perspectives” -Hermann Baumann, horn
“Next Mode”  - Vincent Chancey, jazz horn(they do exist!)
“Brahms and Beethoven: Music for Horn” - Lowell Greer, natural horn
“20th Century Settings” Gail Williams, horn

Equipment:
Good Brands:
Conn(8D), Holton, and Yamaha(667)

Mouthpieces: Remember, this is just a starting point, result may vary.
Yamaha 30C4(Beginner)
Schillke 30(Beginner)
Holton-Farkas MC or MDC (Intermediate)
Laskey 75G(Advanced)
Laskey 80J(Advanced, larger lips)

Mutes:
Humes and Berg Straight Mute(basic)
Trumcor 45T Tuneable Straight Mute(advanced)


I'm hoping Dr. Randall Faust would be proud...CORdially...

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Wind Band Composer Snapshot: David Maslanka


David Maslanka
Dr. David Maslanka (1943-Present) American Composer

- Born in New Bedford, Mass.
- Holds degrees from Oberlin(1965) BMusEd and Michigan State(67-71) MM and PhD Theory/Composition where his prinicipal teacher was H. Owen Reed.
- spent a year studying at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria
- Has been working as a freelance composer since 1990.
- Served as faculty at the State University of New York at Geneseo, Sarah Lawrence College, New York University, and Kingsborough Community College of the City University of New York.
- Now resides in Missoula, MT.
- Has written choral, orchestral, solo, chamber, and percussion music, but is most well-known for his over 40 contributions to the wind ensemble repertoire.
- Symphonies 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9 are for wind ensemble as well as 12 concertos, a Mass, and many smaller scale concert pieces.

[Freesen Note: Maslanka’s belief in fate and the beyond is interesting to me. He talks about his school selection by saying he was naïve in choosing programs, but he believes if “you need a teacher, than the teacher will appear”]

Major works for Wind Ensemble:

A Child’s Garden of Dreams (1981) 35:00Min Gr. VII
- Premiered in Feb. 1982 at Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., NU Wind Ensemble, John P. Paynter, conductor
- Commissioned by John and Marietta Paynter for the Northwestern University Symphonic Wind Ensemble.
- The work is based on “Man and His Symbols” by Carl Jung(a Swiss psychologist): The anecdote explains an experience of meeting with a psychiatrist who brought in a handwritten booklet he had received as a Christmas present from his 10-year-old daughter. It was a puzzling set of dreams that were incomprehensible. Each dream begins with the words of a fairy tale: ‘Once upon a time.’ The father couldn’t explain the dreams because they had no personal association. She would die a year after giving this book to her father.
- from Man and His Symbols: “The dreams were a preparation for death, expressed through short stories. The little girl was approaching puberty, and at the same time, the end of her life. Little or nothing in the symbolism of her dreams points to the beginning of a normal adult life. When I first read her dreams, I had the uncanny feeling that they suggested impending disaster. These dreams open up a new and rather terrifying aspect of life and death. One would expect to find such images in an aging person who looks back on life, rather than to be given them by a child. Their atmosphere recalls the old Roman saying, ‘Life is a short dream,’ rather than the joy and exuberance of its springtime. Experience shows that the unknown approach of death casts an ‘adumbratio’ (an anticipatory shadow) over the life and dreams of the victim. Even the altar in Christian churches represents, on one hand, a tomb and, on the other, a place of resurrection – the transformation of death into eternal life.”
- In 5 movements, which were selected from the 12 dreams in his book:
I. There is a desert on the moon where the dreamer sinks so deeply into the ground that she reaches hell.
II. A Drunken woman falls into the water and comes out renewed and sober.
III. A horde of small animals frightens the dreamer. The animals increase to a tremendous size, and one of them devours the little girl.
IV. A drop of water is seen as it appears when looked at through a microscope. The girl sees that the drop is full of tree branches. This portrays the origin of the world.
V. An ascent into heaven, where pagan dances are being celebrated; and a descent into hell, where angels are doing good deeds

Symphony No. 2 (1985) 30 min Gr. VII
- In 3 movements: I. Moderato, II. Deep River III. Allegro Molto
- Premiered in Feb. 1987 at the CBDNA National Convention in Evanston, IL by Northwestern University Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble, with John P. Paynter, conducting
- commissioned by the Big Ten Band Directors Association in 1983 to be a major work for full symphonic band.
- The first and third movements are in sonata form.
- The second movement is based on an African American spiritual(Deep River) and the final notes were written during the tragedy of the Challenger space shuttle. It is dedicated to the memory of those astronauts.

In Memoriam (1989) 13 minutes
- Premiered Feb. 1990 at the Texas Music Educators Association annual conference, San Antonio, TX by the University of Texas at Arlington Wind Ensemble, Ray C. Lichtenwalter, conductor.
- Commissioned by the University of Texas at Arlington Wind Ensemble/Ray C. Lichtenwalter at the request of the students of Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma at UTA.
- Utilizing the the Bach chorale prelude; “Nur den lieben Gott lasst walten” (If you only trust in God to guide you”) this was composed for Ray Lichtenwalter, in memory of his wife Susan.
- “The opening declamatory statement of the hymn tune by the brass and percussion, and then by the full ensemble, sets the stage for a work which dramatically captures both the conflict and the celebration of human life.” – Maslanka
- The work is a large fantasia interweaving variations on the hymn with related thematic material.
- The text of the hymn is as follows:
“If you but trust in God to guide you
And place your confidence in Him,
You’ll find Him always there beside you,
To give you hope and strength within.
For those who trust Gods changeless love
Build on the rock that will not move.”

Symphony No. 4 (1993) 29 minutes Gr. VII
- Premiered Feb. 1994 at the 1994 Texas Music Educators Association convention, San Antonio, TX, by the University of Texas at Austin Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Jerry Junkin, conductor
- Commissioned by a consortium headed by the University of Texas at Austin Symphonic Wind Ensemble and director, Jerry Junkin
- based on a joy for life. He found this inspiration in many things including the landscape of Montana and Idaho.
- The telling of Lincoln’s funeral procession by Illinoisian Poet, Carl Sandburg is used as inspiration as well. Maslanka thinks Lincoln serves as a model for dealing with the struggles of the current time.
- The hymn tune Old Hundred as well as other hymn tunes (the Bach chorales “Only Trust in God to Guide You” and “Christ Who Makes Us Holy”), and original melodies which are hymn-like in nature, are used throughout.
- Psalm 100 was also part of the basis for the work. It reads in part:
“Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord
with gladness; come before His presence with singing… Enter into
His gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise: be
thankful unto Him, and bless His name.”
- While not Christian in his own ideology, he uses these Christian symbols because they are part of our cultural heritage.

Mass (1996) revised (2005) 105Min
- composed for SATB Chorus, Boys Chorus, Soprano & Baritone soli, Organ, and Symphonic Wind Ensemble
- Premiered April 1996 at St. Thomas the Apostle Church, Tucson, AZ, by the University of Arizona Wind Ensemble, Gregg Hanson, conductor.
- Commissioned by a consortium headed by the University of Arizona Wind Ensemble and Gregg Hanson
- This is complete setting the Latin Mass, intercut with solo songs on poems of Richard Beale.
- dedicated to the generations of Maslanka’s family – his grandfathers and grandmothers, his father Stanley, his mother Mary, his brothers John and Robert, his wife Alison, his children Stephen, Matthew and Kathryn – and to the continued opening of the human spirit in this age of transformation.
- This the second work that utilizes texts by Beale, he is also the poet behind Litany for Courage and the Seasons which is 6 settings for choir.
- The full text for the mass can be found at http://www.davidmaslanka.com/

Song Book(2001) 45min
- Commissioned by a consortium of universities headed by Larry Gookin, Director of Bands, and Hal Ott, Professor of Flute at Central Washington University, Ellensburg, WA.
- scored for Flute and Wind Ensemble as a concerto.
- 5 movements: I. A Song of Coming Awake, II. Solvitur Ambulando(it is solved by walking) III. In Loving Memory, IV. In the Crucible of Your Pain, and V. A Song for the End of Time
- The title comes out of the intimate nature of the music, and the voice-like quality of the flute.
- The piece is based on three chorales by J.S. Bach, which Maslanka uses frequently.

Give Us This Day: Short Symphony for Wind Ensemble (2005) 17 minutes Gr. V
- The work is divided into two movements. I. and II.(with a symphonic character)
- Commissioned by Eric Weirather, Director of Bands at Rancho Buena Vista High School in Oceanside, CA, (San Diego area).
- Title comes from the Lord's Prayer, but the inspiration for this music is Buddhist.
- Written with ideas from a reflection on reading a book by the Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh (pronounced "Tick Not Hahn") entitled "For a future to be Possible."
- The theory is that future for the planet is only possible if individuals become deeply mindful of themselves, deeply connected to who they really are. Maslanka says this is the issue for world peace.
-Ends with a modal setting of the Chorale melody "Vater Unser in Himmelreich" ("Our Father in Heaven"), #110 from the 371 Four-Part Chorales by J.S. Bach.
Other Works for Winds:
Concerto for Alto Saxophone (2000), Concerto for Marimba (1990), Concerto for Piano, Winds, and Percussion (1979), Desert Roads: Four Songs for Clarinet and Wind Ensemble (2004), Four Pieces for Band (1980), Golden Light (1990), Heart Songs (1998), Hell's Gate (1997), Montana Music: Chorale Variations (1993), Morning Star (1997), Mother Earth (2006), Prelude on a Gregorian Tune(1981), Rollo Takes a Walk (1980), Sea Dreams for Two Horns and Wind Ensemble (1998), Symphony No. 3 (1991), Symphony No. 5 (2000), Symphony No. 7 (2008), Tears (1994), Testament (2001), A Tuning Piece: Songs of Fall and Winter (1995), Traveler, UFO Dreams: Concerto for Euphonium (1999), Variants on a Hymn Tune (1995), Alex and The Phantom Band (2001), Concerto for Trombone and Wind Ensemble (2007), Procession of the Academics (2007- For ISU graduation), and A Carl Sandburg Reader (2007)