This installment is proposed by Dr. Julia Baumanis, Assistant Professor and Associate Director of Bands at Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts, and Artistic Director and Conductor of The New Brunswick Chamber Orchestra. Dr. Baumanis is co-curator of GO ON: Tell Your Story! Voices of Women Band Directors (GIA Publications) is the co-chair of the Mentorship Committee for Women Band Directors International, and serves on the WASBE repertoire committee.
Grade 4
Illumination (2013) – 5’ – Purchase at Maslanka Press
David Maslanka (USA, 1943 - 2017)
Program Note: The composer left the following program note for the piece: “Illumination” – lighting up, bringing light. I am especially interested in composing music for young people that allows them a vibrant experience of their own creative energy. A powerful experience of this sort stays in the heart and mind as a channel for creative energy, no matter what the life path. Music shared in community brings this vital force to everyone. Illumination is an open and cheerful piece in a quick tempo, with a very direct A-B-A song form. The piece was composed for the Franklin, Massachusetts public schools. The commission was started by Nicole Wright, band director at the Horace Mann Middle School in Franklin, when she discovered that my grandnephew was in her band. The piece was initially to have been for her young players, but the idea grew to make it the center of the dedication concert at the opening of Franklin’s new high school building. Rehearsals of Illumination were actually the first musical sounds made in their fine new auditorium
Performance Considerations: Illumination is an energetic and joyous piece, written at a roughly 3+ grade level. Instrumentation is complete, but certain parts, such as oboe, bassoon, and horn are not exposed. The parts are composed so that first are more demanding, and seconds and thirds successively easier. Illumination – light rising – coming to consciousness: performing music offers the possibility of immediate awakening, and this piece has both high good nature and a sharp wake-up quality that is accessible to a broad range of ability for developing ensembles.
Official Website - https://davidmaslanka.com/
Grade 3.5
Of Endless Miles and Empty Rafts… (2023) – 5’ – Purchase at Michele Fernandéz Music
Michele Fernandéz (USA, 1967)
Program Note: The composer left the following program note for the piece: Throughout time and regardless of origin, immigrants have shown a spiritual courage and resolve to survive that has found countless families suffering perilous journeys in search of safety. Many have been lost along the way. As a child of Cuban parents who fled oppression (leaving much behind to build a new life), my respect and empathy for all immigrants runs deep. Although my parents’ (still traumatic) exoduses were not by sea, several family members’ and friends’ journeys were. Throughout my life I have heard stories of near losses and rafts washing ashore, empty. I still recall the feelings since childhood- wondering who they were, and what happened to them.
This piece is in no way intended as a contemporary statement, rather as an empathic look at humanities’ struggles to protect innocent families throughout history, and a tribute to my own ancestors’ courage. Many of us are descendants of immigrants at some point in our deep histories, regardless of era, or origin. During my 30 years as a public school teaching in Miami, I had countless (precious) students who suffered trauma from the dangers of their immigrant journey, and so this original composition honors displaced souls from all eras and walks of life, irrespective of hemisphere- who had fled homes, to anywhere, in search of safety for themselves and their children.
The piece is written using two authentic Afro-Cuban forms: Guaguancó and Son-Montuno. In this work, many authentic patterns are woven into the fabric of the winds as well. No prior knowledge of Afro-Latin forms is needed to achieve an authentic performance, as percussion parts are carefully crafted using a personally developed, simplified method to achieve authenticity quickly. Each brief section represents elements of an immigrant’s story:
1. Opening Chorale: depicts a treacherous journey, for example, as seas toss about a small raft and its occupants. At the end of the chorale, the listener can almost visualize someone falling overboard and descending into the depths with others still in the raft, crying out with reaching hands as rain and darkness beat down.
2. Guaguancó: (3/2 Rumba Clave): a seamless flashback to a memory; this dignified soul at home, living peacefully.
3. Son Montuno: (2/3 Son Clave): Still a flashback- urgency sets in at home as turmoil intensifies into a pursuit, and the courageous decision to flee from danger comes to the forefront. The piece returns to the present (remaining souls) and the intense finale depicts the will of the human spirit to survive and carry on to thrive and contribute, now in their new home- in honor of their lost loved ones’ memories and courage.
Performance Considerations: Fernandéz leaves ample rehearsal notes in the conductor's score which specifically states that “absolutely no prior knowledge of Afro-Latin forms is needed from the performer to be successful in playing this music.” However, conductors should research the specific stylistic idioms through listening to Afro-Latin music when programming this piece. Her rehearsal notes include specific placement of percussion instruments in the ensemble room and where students should direct their listening during specific moments in the music. The music also considers the note range of developing musicians, oftentimes offering an option to play a musical line in a lower, more accessible octave. While many of the rhythms utilized in her piece use syncopation and specifically placed articulation markings, many of its musical ideas are repetitive. Once students grasp the rhythm and the style, the piece lends itself to be accessible so many developing ensembles can be successful in its performance.
Official Website - https://michele-fernandez.com/home-and-bio
Grade 2
Ancient Flower (2015) – 4'39'' – Purchase at Carl Fischer
Yukiko Nishimura (1967, Japan)
Program Notes: Originally composed for orchestra, this piece features Nishimura’s distinct gift of transforming what one might consider a simple melody into a continuously evolving and singing line. This idea of a simple melody blooming into a larger work is supported by the notes in the conductor’s score: In the opening, a long, sensitive melodic line emerges, supported by Western-style harmonies. Just as a dainty flower slowly opens, this expressive music blossoms into a work of delicate beauty.
Performance Considerations: This piece is a wonderful example of music written in the comfortable range of instruments, but one that explores as much of that range as possible while still considering the potential limitations of range for developing ensembles. The simplistic melody is written in a way that does not sound rudimentary in nature. The longer and lyrical phrases, paired with many areas of rubato, do challenge developing ensembles to use incredible breath support and the slower tempo encourages ensembles to have patience through each of the longer phrases. The piece opens with melody in the clarinet section, and passes that melody through many different instrument groupings, offering a chance for multiple sections to be featured. Towards the end of the piece, the composer features moments of silence that interrupt the melody. This again is another opportunity to teach developing musicians patience, listening skills, and to keep connected with the conductor’s tempo.
Official Website - https://www.carlfischer.com/yukiko-nishimura
Grade 4
Terpsichorean Dances (2009) – 8’ – Purchase at Manhattan Beach Music
Jodie Blackshaw (Australia, 1971)
Program Notes: The composer provides the following program note for the piece: Michael Praetorius (1571-1621), German composer and archivist, was fanatical about recording the details of the many countries he visited, with a focus on the kind of music and musical instruments he encountered. The culmination of this fascination was his three-volume treatise Syntagma Musicum, a compendium of information on German music, musical instruments, and performance practice. But much more well-known today is Praetorius’s 1612 collection of 312 dances from the royal courts of France, known as Terpsichore, named for the Greek muse of dance. These dances were not composed by Praetorius; instead, he recorded and harmonized the melodies into three, four, five, and sometimes even six parts in order to avoid their imminent extinction. In my setting for concert band, three dances from the collection are featured: Springtanz, Leaping Dance; Der Lautenspieler, the Lute Player; and Der Schutzenkönig, the Archer King.To favor Praetorius’s infatuation with different musical instruments, this setting employs a variety of colors, and features the soloist and sections alike. Performers are invited to play in an animated nature to reinforce the strong sense of pulse required in all dance music. And though we are sure the lagerphone was unknown to Praetorius, we are equally sure he would have delighted in its joyous jangle! This piece is dedicated to all of the students enrolled in the St. Patrick's College Band Program, Sutherland, New South Wales, Australia, from 1999 to 2002. Their infectious enthusiasm, unwavering support, and raw talent will always be an inspiration to me.
Performance Considerations: With its repetitive melodic gestures and infectious dance sway, this work is a powerful piece to introduce developing ensembles to 17th century renaissance music. There are many opportunities written within the piece to work in a chamber music setting (woodwind consort, brass consort, percussion consort), which can serve as an excellent way for developing musicians to gain independence on their instruments in a smaller chamber setting. While there are moments for soloists, namely the oboe, there are also cued lines to assist with these soloistic passages should the ensemble performing not have the instrumentation to perform with the written solo. There are moments of higher ranges in the 1st trumpet part, but they are brief and at the lower pitches of what would be considered the upper range for trumpet. There is also a specific percussion instrument (the Lagerphone) that is required to play this piece. This instrument can be easily made and done so with very little expenses. The composer gives ample notes on how to construct this instrument, also noting that this could be a community activity for the percussionists to assist in the creation of the Lagerphone.
Official Website - https://www.jodieblackshaw.com/
Grade 3
Wishes and Wantings (2023) – 4’ – Purchase at KD Publishing
Kelijah Dunton (USA, 1999)
Program Note: The composer leaves the following program note for the piece: In my high school days, I spent a lot of my time consuming and learning about Japanese culture & its fascinating history. I've always had the desire to listen to and emulate modern Japanese music from J-Pop to movie scoring giants such as Joe Hisaishi and the like. I have a great appreciation for the culture because it has probably influenced me the most in my musical writing and has opened my eyes to different forms a musical thought can take. Now here we are with my new piece, "Wishes & Wantings" ; A modern Japanese inspired piece that speaks to my own personal experience being surrounded by Japanese culture growing up and what it also means to so many other people that I know and relate to from all walks of life.
Performance Considerations: With this slower, more lyrical music, the notation and rhythm are accessible to developing ensembles. The range of the instruments in Dunton’s writing keep within a comfortable octave for both brass and woodwind instruments. With the more contemporary harmony utilized in this piece akin to film scores, extended harmony beyond western classical chord progression is featured extensively. Conductors who program this piece should take special care when working through the harmonic structure of the piece with their ensembles, as the key center shifts often and chords many times feature extended tones beyond 3rds and 5ths of the chord. With the combination of the comfortable range and notation paired with the extended chord structure and the contemporary film score sound, this piece is a wonderful choice to challenge developing ensembles to extend their listening skills within a piece that younger students can personally relate to.
Official Website - https://kelijah.com/