The Red Balloon Anne McGinty

-All are at mezzo forte

-M. 141-148

-Melody 2 in the flutes and oboe (watch for accents on downbeats)

-Countermelody in bassoons, bari sax and baritone and the “li” of beat 1 every two measures.

-Horns have chord movement from m. 141-144.

-Otherwise clarinets have the same downbeat quarter note accompaniment.

-M. 147-148 same fanfare idea as beginning, just shortened by one measure; forte volume.

-M. 149-157

-Trumpet 1 melody for 8 measures

-Trumpet 2 and Trombone 2, baritone, bari and tenor sax have countermelody

-whole note movement in horns, alto sax, trombone 1 for 8 measures.

-M. 157-166

-M. 157-162 an exact replica of previous section

-M. 163-166, Fanfare repeated, including continuation of drum rolls this time.

-M.167-174

-Same as beginning with a denser texture

-Either the melody or the quarter note accompaniment

-Exception: Baritone, Horns have a new statement, accented dotted quarter notes beginning on beat 2 of measure 167 for 4 bars.

-M. 175-183

-Repeat of 2^nd melody in flutes

-Baritone, bassoon and bari sax still have interjectory statements every two measures.

-Clarinets have quarter accompaniment again.

-Horns have whole note line again.

-M. 183-End

-Shortened version of the end of the main melody in all voices.

-Horns and trombones don’t come in until 2^nd beat of 184.

-Fanfare used to end the piece at a forte.

Suggested listening:

1. Essex County NJ Honors Band

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHAayuhIKI4

2. Hillsdale Wind Symphony

Sources/Bibliography:

-trnmusic.com/categories/Composers/Stuart%2C-Hugh-M./?sort=featured&page=1

-nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_M._Stuart

-www.windrep.org/Three_Ayres_from_Gloucester

-http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/46576/ayre

Chant and Jubilo

Francis McBeth

Jackie, Nat, Mary, Faithe

Biographical Information:

W. Francis McBeth was born March 9, 1933 in Lubbock, Texas. He died of a stroke January 6, 2012, his wife and two children surviving. He studied at Hardin-Simmons University, the University of Texas, and Eastman School of Music. McBeth was a professor and composer at Ouachita University, Arkadelphia, Arkansas. He held the position of music director for the Arkansas Symphony in Little Rock. McBeth was the recipient of numerous awards and achievements including, but not limited to: “Presley Award at Hardin-Simmons University, the Howard Hanson Prize at the Eastman School of Music, American School Band Directors Association's Edwin Franko Goldman Award, Fellow of the American Wind and Percussion Artists by the National Band Association, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia's American Man of Music in 1988, Kappa Kappa Psi's National Service to Music Award, Mid-West International Band and Orchestra Clinic's Medal of Honor in 1993, and Past President of the American Bandmasters Association” (Southern Music Composers). Finally, the Governor of Arkansas named McBeth Composer Laureate of the State of Arkansas in 1975.

Composition Information:

This piece was published in 1963 by the Southern Music Company. The work runs approximately six minutes long and is a grade IV. It was commissioned by Jerry Loveall and the Four States Bandmasters Convention in Texarkana, Texas. Francis McBeth conducted the first performance in January of 1962 by the Four States Bandmasters Band. The material from which this composition was written also appeared in McBeth’s Hymn for Band. The piece comprises of two connected but contrasting movements. The chant is modal and reminiscent of early church organum. The Jubilo is notable for its “explosive lower brass and percussion.”

Historical and Stylistic Information:

“The melodic material in the Chant is derived from a ninth century Greek hymn of rogation. It is a modal movement reminiscent of the early church organum and should be done in a very sensitive manner, with the Jubilo contrasting with its explosive lower brass and percussion” (Program Notes). The instrumentation for this composition is a full wind band, including four horn parts along with three parts for clarinet, cornet, and trombone.

Technical Information :

The piece is either a Grade 3 or Grade 4, depending on the state. It is approximately six minutes in length. Students may find the mixing modes and normal key signatures to be confusing or difficult to grasp technically. Fingerings can be tricky, especially with upper woodwinds. Balance is an important aspect to consider with varying voices playing at any time, especially in solo/soli sections. Execution of ornamentation is crucial, but may be challenging. The syncopation in the fanfare/Jubilo must be clearly articulated, which includes accurate counting.

Form:
Suggested listening:

1) Hastings College Symphonic Band: Masque, http://youtu.be/mDZgAanVI84

2) Philharmonia A Vent (available via Naxos)

3) Southern Music Company http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAoSV8fI95k

4) UTEP Symphony Band http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dULmRHm1HHY

Sources/Bibliography:

Wind Band Repertory Project: http://www.windrep.org/Chant_and_Jubilo

Southern Music Company: http://www.smcpublications.com/mcbeth.htm

Bai du:

Charles Carter

Jackie, Nat, Mary, Faithe

Biographical Information:

Charles Carter was born in July 10, 1926 in Ponca City, Oklahoma and grew up in Worthington, Ohio. He attended The Ohio State University, the Eastman School and Florida State University. Carter was the low brass instructor and spent time arranging music for the Ohio State Marching Band. He was also the Theory and Composition professor at Florida State University.

Composition Information:

The Bourne Company first published this composition in 1959 and later by Carl Fischer. The piece lasts approximately five and a half minutes and is a Grade III piece. The form of this piece is ABA starting with a fanfare, moving to a slow ballad section, before returning to the opening restatement.

Historical and Stylistic Information:

This piece includes a fanfare followed by a melodic ballad. Such an overture was a typical style of composition during this time, following suit of predecessors like Mendelssohn.

Technical Information :

This piece is written in the keys of E-flat Major, C minor and B-flat Major. Fingerings may prove to be challenging with these changing keys as the tempo is 152=quarter note. The melody comes in on the upbeat, so precision in articulation is very important. Each section with the upbeat must be together, playing with the same articulation, balance, and intonation. The middle section is lyrical and students must practice and become comfortable playing with rubato and great expression.

Form:

Suggested listening:

1) North Texas Wind Symphony

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sr20TBDl3d4

2) Iowa State University Campus Band

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2nHfmiqigY

3) Southern University Wind Symphony: Dance and Intermezzo, http://youtu.be/1pXK_mVfDMI

http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=31549

Kansas State University:

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CEIQFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kstate.edu%2Fmusiceducation%2Fteachingunits%2FOvertureForWinds%2FTeacherGuide.doc&ei=yqY-UYnQNseF2AWJ7oCwBg&usg=AFQjCNESxPjM88gLPmt7GW8DxXFopbj7TA

Yorkshire Ballad

James Barnes

Jackie, Nat, Mary, Faithe

Biographical Information:

James Barnes was born in 1949 in Hobart, Oklahoma. Barnes taught history, theory, orchestration, and composition at the University of Kansas. Barnes served as an Assistant, and later, as Associate Director of Bands for 27 years. He is the recipient of numerous awards including, but not limited to: the American Bandmasters Association Ostwald Award for outstanding contemporary wind band music, numerous ASCAP Awards, the Kappa Kappa Psi Distinguished Service to Music Medal, and the Bohumil Makovsky Award for Outstanding College Band Conductors. Since 1984, his music has been published exclusively by Southern Music Company of San Antonio, Texas.

Composition Information:

This piece was originally published in 1985 by Southern Music Company. It is approximately 3.5 minutes and is a Grade III. This piece is written for a full wind band with optional parts for multiple flutes, oboe, bassoon, and string bass. “This is unusually nice, and can be exceptionally effective for concert or contest! It's a very solidly scored, rich, lyrical, lush setting of a typical English folk ballad that contains flowing countermelodies throughout which are of equal importance to the melody. A perfect contrast to a bolder, more vigorous selection, this quite playable work will present your band in a most positive way!” (Program Notes)

Historical and Stylistic Information:

This piece was composed after a trip to Yorkshire Dales in Northern England. It imitates techniques used by Percy Grainger and follows the traditional AABA phrasing. Ballads, stories depicted through song, have been written and performed since the Middle Ages. Topics of ballads could include heroism, romance, satire, politics, or something catastrophic. Typically simple in structure, lyrical melodies assist in teaching phrasing and expression, such as the use of hairpin dynamics (crescendo 2 measures, decrescendo 2 measures).

Yorkshire is known to be some of the greenest areas in all of britain, due to its vast plains that are generally unspoiled by cities, and those cities that are there tend to be more open than the cluttered metropoli of southern England. Often called God’s own country, for the beautiful and idyllic look of its jutting cliffs, loping plains and healthy, green forests.

The Ballad: Originally a form of verse set to music, from the french Ballade, or dancing song. However over time they became very popular in Britain, being commonly printed on broadsides, as well as becoming more and more heard and seen in the Americas, Australia, and elsewhere in Europe. With it’s travel it also took on a different meaning and style, becoming more of a slow, popular love song.

Technical Information :

Overall, the rhythms and melody of this piece are simple. The area where students may run into problems is in phrasing and expression. The lyricism is endless, allowing for emphasis on phrasing and directionality of the melody. With a readily changing countermelody, students must remember to consider balance and intonation. Finally, this piece incorporates many suspensions and resolutions. It is vital to spend time working on suspension/resolution effects.

Form

Suggested listening:

1) Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmYYnuWcUro

2) Southern Music Company http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xg_wrF95L1M

3) Carrollton Wind Symphony http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PB_cgmrlO18

Sources/Bibliography:

The Wind Repertory Project: http://www.windrep.org/Yorkshire_Ballad

Kansas State University:

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=7&ved=0CEoQFjAG&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.k-state.edu%2Fmusiceducation%2Fteachingunits%2FYorkshire%2520Ballad%2Fteacher.doc&ei=PqIUZN2yOTYBdiEgegL&usg=AFQjCNEeHBIPnzBA6Z5uCWAhTw5qUQh7fw&bvm=bv.43287494,d.b2I

Spring Festival

Chen Yi

Biographical Information:

Chen Yi was born in China on April 4^th, 1953. She began studying Western music (including Bach and Mozart) at a very young age on piano and violin. When the Cultural Revolution began in 1966, all western ideas were banned and her education stopped. Her family was sent to a labor camp in the countryside, where she continued to secretly play as much as she could. She began work as a concertmaster in Guangzhou at the age of 17, and eventually moved to New York city to study composition. She is the first Chinese woman to receive a Master of Arts in composition from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, and is now a professor of composition at the University of Missouri-Kansas Conservatory of Music and Dance.

Composition Information:

Spring Festival was written as a celebration of the Chinese New Year, and all the traditions that surround the Chinese festival. The form is based on the idea of the Golden Section, and the main melody is taken from a Chinese folk piece called Lion Playing Ball. It was commissioned by the American Composers Forum’s “bandquest” project in 1999 and premiered at Smith-Hale junior high school in 2000. The form is constructed using a mathematical scheme, “The Golden Section”. Using an equation, she divided the piece into two sections, The Golden Section, and the Negative Section.

Historical and Stylistic Information:

The Golden Section refers to a mathematical equation when applied to music. Two quantities are in the Golden Section when the ratio of the sum of the quantities to the larger is equal to the ratio of the larger quantity to the smaller one. Using this idea, Chen Yi split the score first into two large parts, one containing the original idea, and the second containing the climax of the whole piece. From there she continued subdividing into smaller sections in order to further clarify main melodies and lines.

Technical Information :

- 4/4 Time

-Key of Bb Flat

-Exposed Oboe and Trumpet Parts

-Traditional Chinese Percussion Parts

-Dotted 16^th note rhythms

-Trill fingerings measure 48

-Many Syncopated Rhythms

-There are plenty of accidentals and leaps to maneuver around in every part that has the melody or countermelody.

-Rhythm-wise, there’s plenty of syncopation and faster rhythms. Solo sections can be very exposed at times, and players would have to be very comfortable with listening across the band. The embellishments and accidentals might be the hardest part of this piece though.

-There is a lot of passing the melody around during this piece so the band needs to listen for the melody so that it does not get covered up.

-Intonation is important as well, the piece has a lot of different harmonies which might make it harder to hear discrepancies, but it still need to be watched.

-Also the accents and forte pianos need to be addressed as there are a lot throughout.

Form:

-M. 1-15:

-There’s always a steady sense of the quarter beat.

-Trumpet and oboe enters in M. 12 with main melody.

-All players use a marcato beat.

-M. 15-22

-Melody remains in Trumpet and oboe, slightly altered.

-Countermelody in trumpet 2/3 and trombone 1, entering on beat 2 of measure 15.

-Percussion 1 and 4 have occasional statements; 4 is usually on beat 2 every other measure, 1 is on beat 1 or 2.

-Percussion is the only voice making dynamic changes (mp crescendo to mf)

-M. 22-27

-Brass voices drop out, upper woodwinds are all in (except oboe)

-Largely homophonic movement, but the melody is in the more active flute line.

-Percussion 1 and 4 are still the only ones playing; Still on alternating statements and measures.

-Whole section is mezzo forte

-M. 28-35

-Clarinets and saxes have the melody, much like a variation on the flute melody immediately before this section.

-M. 29-32, flutes have 16^th note runs (not continually).

-There really isn’t any countermelody in this section.

-Trombones enter m. 32 with whole notes, leading to downwards eighths that segue into the next section in m. 34 (while woodwinds are trilling)

-M. 35-40

-Trombones have another variation of the melody – It seems to be kind of augmented I think – for three measures.

-Oboe/Trumpets echo first measure of trombone melody in m. 36 and 37

-Clarinets, saxophones and flutes also echo (but faster) at the end of measure 36 and resolve to a trill.

-M. 38, trombones are glissing; Low brass enters on beat 2

-Woodwinds continue with fanfare and trill.

-M. 40-45

-Two different lines of interest: Flute/Clarinet/Saxophone melody, and low brass countermelody.

-The two lines fill in empty spaces for each other – Woodwinds fill in spaces where brass have long notes or rest and vice versa.

-Percussion 2 and 3 enter M. 41 and begin their alternating rhythm.

-Trumpets/oboe re-enters in M. 44, with a short version of the melody.

-M. 46-52

-Percussions restate rhythmic idea from beginning of the piece.

-Homophonic forte attack on the and of beat 4 in measure 47, leading to a whole note trill/hold

-Continuation of homophonic movement with an eighth note melodic line, high woodwinds have trills on select notes.

-M. 50, voices without the eighth notes (brass, oboe, low woodwinds) have a crescendoed whole note and short interlude to the next section.

-M. 52-57

- M.52-53 is an exchange between the high voices and low voices.

-Crescendo starting in measure 54

-Two homophonic lines and percussion moving toward m. 56 beat 2.

-On beat 2 of m. 56, all winds have a forte piano crescendo note through the next measure (cut off is sharp on 3).

-M. 58-68

-Pick-up in percussion

-Original melody returns in trumpet and oboe for ten measures

-1 player on trombone during trumpet/oboe soli

-M. 68-End

-Flutes/Clarinets/Saxes pick up melody – much like beginning

-Trumpets have the countermelody

-M. 74 upper woodwinds’ have trill, brass and low woodwinds move downward

-Giant crescendo from a fortissimo

-M. 75 wind players rhythm is echoed in percussion

-End by percussion

Suggested listening:

-Gotham Wind Symphony:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srAzYWsGhn0

- Audio from Hal Leonard Website:http://www.halleonard.com/viewaudio.do?itemId=4001978&fileName=http://s3.amazonaws.com/halleonard-audio/04001978.mp3

-http://www.halleonard.com/product/viewproduct.do?itemid=4001978

-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srAzYWsGhn0

Sources/Bibliography:

-http://www.presser.com/composers/info.cfm?name=chenyi

-http://library.newmusicusa.org/ChenYi

-http://composersforum.org/content/chen-yi

-http://www.windrep.org/Spring_Festival

Gulf Breezes

Christopher Tucker

Band Group 1

Christopher Tucker (b. 1976) holds his bachelor’s degree cum laude from the

University of North Texas and his master’s degree from the University of Texas at

Austin. He has studied with a variety of professors, including Dr. Martin Mailman,

Elliot Del Borgo, Walter Hartley, Dan Welcher, Donald Grantham, and Samuel Adler.

He also holds a performance certificate from studying conducting with Mr. Kevin

Sedatole.

Tucker has won numerous awards, including third prize in the 2006

Category One MBM Frank Ticheli Composition Contest, first prize in the 2001

Biennial CBDNA Young Band Composition Contest, first prize in the same contest

in 2003, and first prize in the 2004 Claude T. Smith Memorial Composition Contest.

Mr. Tucker contributed to the editing of “Forgotten Songs of John Philip Sousa,”

a project which sought to revive Sousa’s lesser-known works, including chamber

music and vocal works. Currently, Tucker has a radio broadcast production at

WWR Classical 101.1 FM in Dallas, Texas, and is a member of ASCAP as well as the

American Composers Forum. He also serves as the director of Artistic Planning (and

a founding member) of the Lone Star Wind Orchestra.
Composition Information:

Commissioned by region 15 of the Texas Music Educators’ Association for the

Coakley Middle School’s TMEA honor band performance, Tucker owes inspiration

for this piece to summer fishing outings. Visiting South Padre island with his

grandparents, Tucker recollects fond memories of fishing off the pier and physical

sensation of cool breezes and the spray of surf against his skin. A nature tone poem

in four stages, Tucker uses specific compositional techniques to represent the

unpredictable and flowing course of the waters in which he fished. In addition to

depicting the warm south gulf currents, Tucker also alludes to the horizon at sunset

in this colorful piece. The piece is split into four sections – “The Water,” “The

Current,” “The Warm Wind,” and “Horizon.” Each section represents a specific

aspect of Tucker’s trip to the coast with his family. Thankful for the memories

created, this piece is dedicated to Tucker’s grandmother, Chepa Serna.
Historical and Stylistic Information:

Gulf Breezes is a tone poem. First introduced by Franz Liszt in the 1850s, a

symphonic, or tone poem is a work that is one continuous movement that is meant

to evoke the contents of a poem, story or event. Held together by motifs, tone

poems do not follow a conventional form and often utilize compositional techniques

to achieve a specific blend of colors within the piece. The four segments each have

their own musical identity as described by Mr. Tucker. “The Water” is a rather free

section which implements cues, and may be describe as unpredictable yet calm.

Tucker uses what he describes as “allegory,” or chance music. The second section, “The Current,” represents the current underneath the water, and the driving motion and ceaseless energy that entails. “The Warm Wind” begins as a light, chorale-like section with minimal density, and slowly builds up to the finale, “The Horizon,” which represents grandeur, beauty and finality within the piece. The free section in the first section of this piece is an example of “chance

music.” Chance, or aleatoric, music is music in which some element of the

composition is left to chance and some primary element of the work’s realization

is left to the determination of the performers. Aleatoric comes from the Latin wordalea meaning “dice.” Chance music compositions date back at least to the late 15^th century. An example of chance music is American composer John Cage’s Music of Changes. That is the first piece to be conceived largely through random procedures.

“The Water” is a free movement. Students must understand how aleatoric music

works, especially in a large ensemble setting. The conductor must make a

conscious effort to signal each cue clearly, and should advise his or her students

to account for the passing of time outside of their cued phrases. The score in and