Energetikos is a
wildly energetic and rhythmic piece for concert band.
The title of the work comes from the Greek
and word that means "to be active."
The piece begins with percussion alone presenting an
interesting metric shift
that puts the piece into overdrive.
Muted trumpets enter with a short accompanimental motif that
is used
throughout much of the work. The solo
marimba is used to bridge the various sections of the work
together with
ostinati that fade in and out of the textures.
A lyric middle section offers some relief to the intense
beginning and
end of the work.
- Gary
Gilroy
As the title
indicates, Rondo Festivo is carefree and joyous. The
composer creates an unusual rhythmic feel by writing much of the
piece in 5/4 meter, but using additive rhythmic grouping of
3+3+2+2 to create a "lopsided" 4/4 rhythm.
Video
(U. of Jamestown Wind Ensemble - No. Dakota)
Audio
(from composer's website)
Video
(Jacksonville State Band -
Alabama)
Audio
(1st performance, high quality audio)
Throughout Earth’s time, many myths about what the ocean contains have emerged. Mermaids, sea monsters and creatures of the unknown are expected to be dwelling under the sea. In 1721, Hans Egede, a Dano-Norwegian missionary, set sail to Godthåb, the largest city on the western coast of Greenland. On this voyage, he observed: “[the] most terrible creature resembling nothing they saw before. The monster lifted its head so high that it seemed to be higher than the crow’s nest on the mainmast. The head was small and the body short and wrinkled. The unknown creature was using giant fins which propelled it though the water. Later the sailors saw its tail as well. The monster was longer than the whole ship.”
The deepest point ever reached by man is 35,858 feet below sea level, which happens to be the deepest known point on Earth’s Ocean floor. Around 700 feet below sea level, light disappears; therefore, the rest of the journey to the bottom of the hydrosphere is in complete darkness through the unknown.
After learning about Egede and his voyage, I realized
how fearful the Ocean can be and how little we know about
it. I began composing Riptides to depict my exploration of
the Ocean. The piece begins with a call to the sea and develops
into its melody, which is surrounded by a scheme of danger. As
Riptides continues, the energy races through this quality of
danger and fear, represented by a mermaid call. The piece is
built on eccentric percussion instruments such as the conch
shell horn, ocean drums and thumb rolls on the timpani and bass
drum. Decorated elements such as dissonant textures and
glissando techniques are used, differing from any other piece I
have written thus far. As the frantic thrill continues to the
pivotal point of the piece, Riptides takes a voyage to the
deepest parts of the unknown - of the unfamiliar.
- Katahj Copley
In December of 2003, I had the pleasure of meeting Margene Pappas, Director of Bands at Oswego (IL) High School. A few years later Margene, who is Irish, commissioned a composition as a gift to her band when she retired. All of the themes in Sòlas Ané are original, though they are presented in a Celtic style. 'Sòlas' and 'Ané' are Gaelic words that mean 'joy' and 'yesterday.' The name was given in honor of the joy Margene Papas found each day with her students. Margene is the epitome of the phrase, ‘Winners aren't in it for the race. They just love to run.’ Turning on the band room lights every morning for 37 years was Margene Pappas' passion."
- Sam Hazo YouTube video
(Knightwind Ensemble, Milwaukee - they perform the whole piece,
so note the timestamps) YouTube
video (Taipei Symphonic Winds)
YouTube Video of the original version for choir
+ orchestra (Choral Society of Durham, NC; again, note the
timestamps since this is the entire piece!)
Audio files of individual movements (Peabody Wind
Ensemble): 1
2
3
9
12
13
Vlog
about an upcoming performance w/historical background and
context
The 13th Century Wheel of Fortune is the basis for
Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, a collection of 25 songs for
voices and orchestra, produced by its composer as a
ballet. Orff's text, in Medieval Latin and German, was
taken from the writings of goliards: wandering monks who
tempered their religious beliefs with secular pleasures such as
gambling and drinking. A collection of these poems was
published in 1847 in Germany under the title Carmina Burana:
"carmina" comes from a Latin word that refers to student songs,
and "burana" was the Latin name for the area known today as
Bavaria. Both sacred and secular, the texts frankly extol
the beauty of life and the glory of spring.
The theme
from the O Fortuna movement is one of the most popular
and well-known in the world because of its extensive use in
popular media including in movies (The Hunt for Red October, Speed, and Paul Blart: Mall Cop), television shows
(episodes of Friends, Survivor, and American Dad and ads for
Gatorade and Old Spice), sports (by the New England Patriots,
Univ. of Connecticut football team, the Pittsburgh Pirates,
Detroit Red Wings, Southamption Football Club, and UFC fighter
Nate "The Great" Marquat), and as entrance music for Ozzy
Osbourne, Snoop Dogg, Black Eyed Peas, Michael Jackson, and the
WWE fighter The Undertaker.
Arabesque was commissioned by the Indiana Bandmasters Association and written for the 2008 Indiana All-State Band. Arabesque is based in the mystical sounds of Middle Eastern music and it is composed in three parts. “Taqasim” (tah’-zeem), “dabka” (dupp-keh) and “chorale.” The opening flute cadenza, although written out in notes, is meant to sound like an Arabic taqasim or improvisation. Much the same as in jazz improvisation, the soloist is to play freely in the scales and modes of the genre. In this case, the flute plays in bi-tonal harmonic minor scales, and even bends one note to capture the micro-tonality (quarter-tones) of the music from this part of the world. However, opposite to jazz, taqasim has very little change to the chordal or bass line accompaniment. It is almost always at the entrance to a piece of music and is meant to set the musical and emotional tone.