Band+Rep+lists+and+recommendations



Most important literature and books for your library: Wind ensemble literature in the music library: a core bibliography by Matt Stock

Abstract (summary)
Purpose - The paper seeks to provide a selective bibliography for librarians responsible for music collections and resources pertaining to the history and literature of the wind ensemble, an area frequently underrepresented in our collections. Design/methodology/approach - A range of resources of value to music students and faculty are described to enable librarians and students to make selections appropriate for their needs. The works are divided into two sections: history and literature, and scores. Findings - Information is provided about each work, including publisher. Originality/value - This paper offers practical suggestions for librarians responsible for music collections. excerpt: =**__Scores__**= Grainger, P. (1937), Lincolnshire Posey, G. Schirmer, New York, NY A perennial favorite, Lincolnshire Posy was commissioned by the American Bandmasters Association and premiered with the composer on the podium at their 1937 convention. The melodic material of this six-movement work is drawn from the folksongs of Lincolnshire, England. Grainger’s scoring of the material calls for the ensemble to play in a singing, lilting manner much of the time. Grainger’s Irish Tune from County Derry (Critical edition, 2001, Carl Fischer, New York, NY) is another frequently performed work which would be a welcome addition to the collection.

Hindemith, P. (1951), Symphony in B-flat for Concert Band, Schott, Mainz German-born Paul Hindemith was commissioned to compose the Symphony in B-flat for Concert Band by the United States Army while teaching at Yale University, a position he assumed after fleeing Germany at the outbreak of the Second World War. Characteristically, Hindemith employs an expanded sense of tonality, and virtually all the performers must possess a professional level of skill.

Holst, G. (1909), First Suite in E-flat, Boosey & Hawkes, London Composed in 1909, the First Suite in E-flat is perhaps the first significant composition to employ today’s standard band instrumentation, although the influence of military bands is evident in Holst’s scoring. The frequent use of solo instruments and chamber-music like textures, however, set this work apart from its predecessors. Holst’s Second Suite in F (1911, Boosey & Hawkes, London) and Ralph Vaughan Williams’ English Folk Song Suite (1923, Boosey & Hawkes, London) are similar standard works which also merit inclusion in any library supporting an instrumental music program.

Husa, K. (1968), Music for Prague 1968, Associated Music Publishers, New York, NY Pulitzer Prize winning composer Karel Husa, a native of Prague who became an American citizen in 1959, was moved to compose Music for Prague 1968 by the Soviet invasion of August 1968 to crush the “Prague Spring” reforms. Since its premiere the work has received over 8,000 performances, firmly establishing its place in the modern repertory. In his preface to the score, Husa provides the following comments: The technical demands in this works are such that only more advanced ensembles will be capable of mastering its intricacies. The atonal harmonic language, the rhythmic complexities, and the advanced orchestration concepts – all will require an evolution in focused listening and precise execution on the part of the player.

Husa’s Apotheosis of the Earth (1971, Associated Music Publishers, New York, NY), Percussion Concerto (1971, Hal Leonard, Milwaukee, WI), and Concerto for Wind Ensemble (1982, Associated Music Publishers, New York, NY) also merit consideration.

Mozart, W.A. (2005), Serenade in B-flat Major, K. 361, Barenreiter, Kassel Also known as the Gran Partita, this seven-movement work for 13 wind instruments was composed in Vienna and is the most substantial of Mozart’s numerous surviving works for winds alone. The eighteenth-century serenade served as a musical greeting and was typically performed outdoors in the evening for a person of rank. The date of composition cannot be established with certainty, leaving some scholars to speculate that Mozart wrote this Serenade for his own wedding celebration.

Persichetti, V. (1956), Symphony No. 6 for Band, Op. 69, Elkan Vogel, Bryn Mawr, PA A prolific composer, Persichetti wrote 14 works for winds and percussion in addition to nine symphonies, four string quartets, concertos, songs cycles and the well know series of 25 Parables, primarily for unaccompanied solo instruments. While the overall form is based upon eighteenth-century practices, the shifting metrical structure, absence of a key signature and harmonic practice are decidedly twentieth-century. Other significant wind ensemble works by __**Persichetti include**__ __**Divertimento for Band (1951, Oliver Ditson, Bryn Mawr, PA)**__ __**and Masquerade (1965, Elkan Vogel, Bryn Mawr, PA).**__

Schwantner, J. (1977), And the Mountains Rising Nowhere, European American Music, New York, NY Commissioned by the renowned Eastman Wind Ensemble, “And The Mountains Rising Nowhere” is Schwantner’s first work for wind ensemble. The composer places the percussion sections on equal footing with the woodwinds and brass, employing a large section of six players on a battery of 46 instruments including water gongs (a tam tam partially submerged in a tub of water), tubular bells and a vibraphone played with a contrabass bow.

Stravinsky, I. (1923), Octet, Boosey & Hawkes, New York, NY Scored for four pairs of like instruments (flute and clarinet, two bassoons, two trumpets and two trombones), this neoclassical masterpiece frequently employs baroque-like textures. Conductors and performers alike will be challenged by Stravinsky’s shifting meters and unexpected accents. Music theorists also examine this work for its interplay of diatonic (seven-note) and octatonic (eight-note) scales which characterizes much of Stravinsky’s music. The composer’s Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments (rev. 1950, Boosey & Hawkes, London) and the Symphonies of Wind Instruments (2001, Boosey & Hawkes, London) should also be considered for the collection.

About the author Matt Stock is the Fine & Applied Arts Librarian at the University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA. Matt Stock can be contacted at mstock@ou.edu

Wind ensemble literature in the music library Matt Stock Collection Building Volume 28 · Number 1 · 2009 · 35–37 36

=cbdna notes.=

http://www.cbdna.org/cgi-bin/about9.pl#goto24

**Emblems** - Aaron Copland, 1964

Premiered December 18, 1943, at the 13th national CBDNA Conference in Tempe, Arizona by the USC Band conducted by William Schaefer, also the chair of the commissioning project.

Aaron Copland made these comments:

The work is in triparite form: slow-fast-slow, with the return of the first part varied. Embedded in the quiet, slow music, the listener may hear a brief quotation of a well-known hymn tune, "Amazing Grace," published by William Walker in The Southern Harmony in 1835. Curiously enough, the accompanying harmonies had been conceived first, without reference to any tune. It was only a chance perusal of a recent anthology of old Music in America that made me realize a connection between my harmonies and the old hymn tune. An emblem stands for something-it is a symbol. I called the work Emblems because it seemed to me to suggest musical states of being: noble or aspirational feelings, playful or spirited feelings. The exact nature of these emblematic sounds must be determined for himself by each listener.


 * Availability:** Purchase-Boosey & Hawkes

**Sinfonietta for Concert Band** - Ingolf Dahl, 1961

Sinfonietta for Concert Band was commissioned jointly by the Western and Northwestern Divisions of CBDNA. It was premiered in January of 1961 in Los Angeles, California by the University of Southern California Band conducted by the composer. The project was lead by co-chairs William Schaefer and Robert Vagner.

In discussing the initial idea of the Sinfonietta, Dahl related the following information:

"First of all, I wanted it to be a piece that was full of size, a long piece, a substantial piece--a piece that, without apologies for its medium, would take its place alonside symphonic works of any other kind. But in addition, I hoped to make it a "light" piece. Something in the Serenade style, serenade "tone," and perhaps even form."

"Arthur Honneger once was commissioned to write an oratorio (King David) for chorus and an ill-assorted group of wind instruments. He asked Stravinsky, "What should I do? I have never before heard of this odd combination of winds." Stravinsky replied, "That is very simple. You must approach this task as if it had always been your greatest wish to write for these instruments, and as if a work for just such a group were the same one that you had wanted to write all of your life." This is good advice and I tried to follow it. Only in my case it was not only before but after the work was done and the Sinfonietta was finished that it turned out to be indeed the piece that I had wanted to write all my life."

What emerged in the Sinfonietta is a composition which has been called one of the most important symphonic works of the twentieth century, regardless of the medium. In the introductory note for the Sinfonietta, Ingolf Dahl writes:

"The form of this Sinfonietta is akin to an arch or to the span of a large bridge: the sections of the first movement correspond, in reverse order and even in some details, to the section of the last. For example, the opening fanfares of the back-stage trumpets are balanced by those at the close of the work; the thematic material that ends th first movement is itself shaped like an arch: it begins with an unaccompanied line in the clarinets and ends with a corresponding solo in the alto clarinet. The center of the middle movement, which is the center of the whole work--a gavotte-like section, and the lightest music of the entire Sinfonietta--is the "keystone of the arch"

The tonal idiom of the work grows out of the acoustical properties of the symphonic band: a wealth of overtones. This I feel that bands call for music with more open and consonant intervals than would a string ensemble or a piano. The Sinfonietta is tonal, and centered around A-flat major. At the same time, however, its corner movements are based on a series of six tones (A-flat, E-flat, C, G, D, A) which, through various manipulations, provide most of the work's harmonic and melodic ingredients and patterns. The six tones were chosen to permit all kinds of triadic formations. Furthermore, their inversion at th interval of the major sixth yields a second six-tone set which comprises the remaining six tones of a complete twelve-tone row."

Dahl made slight revisions to the score in 1964, and the final version was performed at the 13th National Conference of the CBDNA in Tempe, Arizona, on December 18th of that year, with the composer conducting.


 * Availability:** Purchase-Tetra Music

I've never heard of or studied this piece, but it could be interesting to look at:

Bob Olson List from his dissertation work (now a bit dated, but of course a good list). @http://www.idrs.org/publications/controlled/Journal/JNL9/excerpt.html

The Core Repertoire
> Haydn, F. J. //Divertimento # 1, and Octet in F Major.//The first is relatively easy for 2-3 bassoons, the second contains several excellent solo variations of moderate difficulty.Mozart, W. A. //Divertimento # 3, K 166, Serenades #10, 11, 12, K. 361, K 375, and K 388.//Marvelous compositions for wind band, they are well,. . . Mozart!Beethoven, L. v. //Octet, Op. 103, and Rondino in E-flat Major.//Passages are not very difficult.Dvorak, A. //Serenade, Op. 44//Excellent 3 bassoon sections, plus a very technically difficult section.Gounod, C. //Petite Symphony.//Moderately easy for 2 bassoons.Strauss. R. //Serenade in E-flat Major, Op. 7, and Suite in B-flat Major, Op. 4//Moderate difficulty. Many of the problems deal with intonation. Considerably more excerpts from the less frequently performed Opus 4 than Opus 7.Strauss, R. //Sonatine for Winds, and Symphony for Winds.//Pages and pages of excerpts, many for 3 bassoons. The //Sonatine// is the most difficult of the four Strauss works, and especially these two need advance study.Stravinsky, I. //L'Histoire du Soldat.//Extremely difficult in every aspect, for solo bassoon. Meter changes range, technique, style, intonation. One of the best!Stravinsky, I. //Octet//The same can be said for the //Octet// as for //L'Histoire,// except the former is for two bassoons.Stravinsky, I. //Concerto for Piano and Wind Instruments, Symphonies of Wind Instruments, and Circus Polka.//All have enough problems that the student should have advance preparation, particularly regarding the extreme register and meter problems.Varèse, E. //Octandre.//Difficult because the style is usually unfamiliar to most students.Milhaud, D. //La Creation du Monde,// and //Suite Française.//Several very nice //pianissimo// passages for solo bassoon, particularly in the in the latter.Poulenc, F. //Suite Française.//Relatively easy excerpts.Berg, A. //Kammerkonzert.//Tricky notation and an unfamiliar style make this work very difficult.Schoenberg, A. //Theme and Variations, Op. 43a.//Most passages are difficult but not solo.Hovhaness, A. //Symphony #4, Op. 165.//A delightful solo of very limited range, hence playable by very young bassoonists.Holst, G. //Hammersmith.// > Hindemith, P. //Symphony in E-flat,// and //Septet for Wind Instruments.//The //Symphony// is such a staple of the repertoire that it should be familiar to bassoonists. The //Septet// contains some very difficult notational problems, and is a good study for trill development.Grainger, P. //Lincolnshire Posy,// and //Hill Song #2.//The former has a great low register solo demanding excellent control of that register.Amram, D. //King Lear Variations.// > Toch, E. //Spiel for Wind Orchestra, Op. 39.// > Kurka, R. //The Good Soldier Schweik Suite.//Excellent passages for development of large leaps.Jacob, G. //Old Wine in New Bottles.//Another work containing solos manageable by young bassoonists.Weill, K. //Little Threepenny Music.// > Dahl, I. //Sinfonietta.//Excellent duet passages, plus demanding technically.Copland, A. //Emblems.// > Messiaen, O. //Et Expecto Resurrectionem Mortuorum//Extremely difficult because of the notational style. With so many meter changes of 2/16 to 2-3/32 to 3-3-2/32 and a very unfamiliar style, this work demands advanced study.Husa, K. //Music for Prague 1968// and //Apotheosis of This Earth.// > Krenek, E. //Dream Sequence, Op. 224.// > Reynolds, V. //Scenes.// > Schwantner, J. //And the Mountains Rising Nowhere.//Rhythmics and notation make this piece very difficult to read and play.Penderecki, K. //Pittsburgh Overture.//Mostly cadenza passages played tutti but they are difficult. The following works were also included in the core repertoire, but for various reasons were not excerpted. > Handel, G. F. //Music for the Royal Fireworks.//Nothing that demanding.Hartley, W. //Concerto for 23 Winds.//The score was not available at the time of the study.Hindemith, P. //Konzertmusik for Wind Orchestra, Op. 41.//A band orchestration.Hindemith, P. //Konzertmusik, Op. 49.//No bassoon.Mozart, W. A. //Divertimento #4 in B-flat, K 186.//Nothing that demanding.Varèse, E. //Déserts.//No bassoon. With the musical validity of the wind ensemble being increasingly established, a new era of advanced preparation is becoming necessary to the bassoonist. The bassoon indeed the wind performer, has long needed an excerpt book containing the most significant wind works in the repertory. Current tutorial methods contain excerpts from the opera and orchestral fields, but the great wind works have been inaccessible to the aspiring wind student in the anthology form. This collection is intended to answer this need.

A SURVEY AND HANDBOOK OF ANALYSIS FOR THE CONDUCTING AND INTERPRETATION OF SEVEN SELECTED WORKS IN THE STANDARD REPERTOIRE FOR WIND BAND
[|Bruning, Earl]. Ball State University, 1980. 1980. 8120740.

Sinfonietta, by Ingolf Dahl ; Symphony No. 3, by Vittorio Giannini; Lincolnshire Posy, by Percy Grainger; Symphony in B-flat, by Paul Hindemith; Symphony for Band, by Vincent Persichetti; La Fiesta Mexicana, by H. Owen Reed; and Theme and Variations, Opus 43a, by Arnold Schoenberg. Conductor problems and solutions were located by measure number or rehearsal letter for organization into a quick reference to specific challenges.