Program

 

Rationale:

When tasked with programing a 1-hour concert, conc ert, the first thing that came to my mind was that I wanted female composers to be represented. This ended up leading to a program made up entirely of female composers. I decided to showcase showca se this marginalized group through m my y concert  program because I feel that women in music are underappreciated. It is often thought that there are not many female composers because we do not hear about many of them and most of them do not have their music played p layed often. In researching female composers for this program I realized that there are far more women working in the field of composition than I ever imagined, we simply don’t know about them. I was able to find long lists of women with wind band compositions yet when I began this project, the only one I could think of was Julie Giroux. I decided on the literature for this program because I thought that it was an accurate representation of some known female composers as well as some som e that have not received the recognition that I  believe they deserve. My hope is that by exposing more people to their music they will not only  become more appreciated, but hopefully are also able to inspire young women to pursue the field of composition. Program Notes:

Spring Festival  by  by Chen Yi Chen Yi is an accomplished composer from Guangzhou, China. She began her musical career by learning piano and violin as a young girl in China. During the time of the Cultural Revolution in China, she had to hide her practicing because Western music had been banned. When these restrictions were no longer in place, she was able to pursue a degree in composition. She moved to New York City after having received her Master of Arts Degree from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and earned her h er DMA at Columbia University. Spring Festival

 

was premiered in the year 2000 in Kansas City, Missouri. It was commissioned by the American Composers Forum. The piece was written in commemoration com memoration of the most important celebration of the year in Chinese culture, the New Year. The composer was inspired b by y a Chinese folk song entitled Lion entitled  Lion Playing Ball , from which she drew much of o f the melodic content that is used in Spring Festival. She Festival. She also chose to combine c ombine mathematics with music by implementing the idea of the Golden Ratio in her piece. The Golden Ratio is approximately 1.6 and in music, the Golden Section, is usually found slightly after the middle of the piece. It is said that this ratio is the most  perfectly pleasing ratio to the eyes and ears. Chen Yi decides to implement this concept in her  piece by not only composing her piece to have the most climactic moment be during the Golden Section, but also uses the Golden Ratio to create two more Golden Sections within the larger Golden Section. These are marked by b y the clarinet and trumpet melodies after the percussive introduction to the piece. The use of this ratio truly helps to depict the ex excitement citement of the Chinese  New Year.

Pease, Andy. "Spring Festival by Chen Yi." Wind Band Literature. January 05, 2018. Accessed April 11, 2018. http://windliterature.org/ http://windliterature.org/2018/01/05/spring-festival-by-chen-yi/. 2018/01/05/spring-festival-by-chen-yi/. Stehle, Roy. "Music Program Notes for Band and Wind Ensemble Music." C - FSW Program  Notes - Index by Composer. Accessed April 11, 2018. http://fswinds.org/pgm_note/notes_c.html#Chen.   http://fswinds.org/pgm_note/notes_c.html#Chen.

 Dream Machine by Machine by Katherine Bergman Katherine Bergman is an American composer and saxophonist. She earned her Master’s degree in composition from the University of Northern Iowa School of o f Music and her

 

Bachelore’s degree in music from Gustavus Adolphus College. Col lege. She has received commissions from many ensembles throughout the United States and has had her works performed at a multitude of conferences and symposiums. Dream symposiums. Dream Machine was commissioned by the Gustavus Wind Orchestra in order to recognize Dr. James Patrick Miller, as he had just been appointed as the new conductor of the ensemble. The idea for the piece came from two sources of inspiration. The first is the actual idea that the brain b rain is able to create such vivid ima imagery gery through dreams. The other is a visual art piece by Brian Gysin which is entitled “Dreamachine.” This is said to be the first art object intended to be looked at with the eyes closed. It is a stroboscope which affects the  brain’s alpha wave activity through lights. The dream machine in the case of this piece can be either of these inspirations, the actual music, or anything else that may ma y come to mind when listening to it. The piece begins with a feeling of mystery and ambiguity, creating a dream dream-like -like environment. As more melodies add in, the piece builds in intensity, just as the plot line of a dream might. The piece has a strong ending, as if resolving the mystery of the dream.

"Bio." Katherine Bergman, Composer. Accessed April 11, 2018. https://www.katherinebergman.net/bio.html.   https://www.katherinebergman.net/bio.html. "Dream Machine." Katherine Bergman, Composer. Accessed April 11, 2018. https://www.katherinebergman.net/dream-machine.html.   https://www.katherinebergman.net/dream-machine.html.

 Dos Danzas for Concert Band  by  by Andrea Reinkemeyer Andrea Reinkemeyer is an American composer who has written works performed nationally and internationally. She is also the Assistant Professor of Music Composition and an d Theory at Linfield College. Reinkemeyer holds degrees d egrees in music composition from the

 

University of Michigan and the University of Oregon. She has also worked as a lecturer and adjunct professor at various other schools. Dos schools. Dos Danzas for Concert Band  was  was premiered in 2010  by the Texas Tech University Concert Band. The piece was commissioned by the group and their conductor, Miller Asbill. There are two movements in the piece, Tangential Tango and Gallo  Fino. The  Fino.  The first movement is, as the title implies, a tango which has soaring melodic lines. It uses two keys at the same time that somehow oppose yet also attract each o other ther simultaneously. The second movement is titled Gallo Fino, Fino, which literally means “fine rooster.” The phrase is also commonly used to describe an arrogant man. The movement works to combine the two meanings  by creating the imagery of a rooster strutting through the streets, streets, ready to amaze. Reinkemeyer uses rhythmic variations and time signatures to convey this image.

About. (n.d.). Retrieved April 11, 2018, from http://andreareinkemeyer.com/bio1.html  http://andreareinkemeyer.com/bio1.html 

Dos Danzas for Concert Band. (n.d.). Retrieved April 11, 2018, from http://andreareinkemeyer.com/notes-dos_danzas.html

Tableaux de Provence by Provence by Paule Maurice, arr. Brian Sparks Paule Maurice was a French composer who lived and worked in Paris throughout her lifetime. She won several composition awards for harmony, fugue, and overall composition. Not only did she compose but she also worked as a teaching assistant and eventually became the  professor of sight reading and harmonic analysis at l’Ecole Normale de Musique. Many of her students went on to become professors themselves and some even won the Prix de Rome, a  prestigious composition award. Tableaux de Provence was written between 1948 and 1955. It is the most famous of her compositions and was written as a dedication to the famous French

 

saxophonist, Marcel Mule. The piece was written in five movements, movements, Farandoulo  Farandoulo di Chatouno, Cansoun per ma mio, La Boumiano, Dis Alyscamps l’amo souspire, and and Lou  Lou cabridan. Each cabridan. Each movement depicts a different image of the city of Provence. The work was originally written for alto saxophone and orchestra and was premiered by saxophonist Jean-Marie Londeix and the Orchestre Symphonique Brestois. Another popular arrangement is for alto saxophone saxoph one and piano. This version for alto saxophone and wind band was arranged by Brian Sparks and has been  performed by the West Point Army Band.

Paule Maurice. (n.d.). Retrieved April 11, 2018, from http://www.paulemaurice.com/id5.html  http://www.paulemaurice.com/id5.html 

 Albanian Dance by Dance by Shelley Hanson Shelley Hanson is an American composer who was born in 1951. Her works have been  performed both nationally and internationally. Not only is she an accomplished composer, but she is also a conductor, record producer, and clarinet player. She plays in the musical group, Zlezmer and All The Jazz, and has composed pieces for the group in collaboration with other ensembles as well. Albanian well. Albanian Dance was Dance was inspired by a popular Albanian song called Shota Shota which  which used traditional Eastern European instrumentation. This included brass instruments, clarinets, and saxophones. The instrumentation for Albanian for  Albanian Dance is that of a Western concert band but it still recreates the same effects that the original Shota Shota instrumentation  instrumentation produced. This piece was written to evoke emotions that would be b e found in a lively village dance. Rhythmic patterns and  passages found in traditional folk music are used to create this mood.

 

Program Notes. (n.d.). Retrieved April 11, 2018, from https://music.ku.edu/sites/music.ku.edu/files/docs/ProgramNotes/2016-2017/USBS Feb20 Program Notes.pdf  

Overture from Dancer in the Dark  by  by Bjork Bjork is an Icelandic artist known primarily for her work as a singer-songwriter. She sang for and founded the Sugarcubes and had a solo career as a singer and actress as well. Through her work with the Sugarcubes, she began to gain fans throughout the United Kingdom and the United States. In 2000, she stared in and scored the film film Dancer  Dancer in the Dark. The Dark. The film is about a Czech immigrant who comes to the United States and works to save mone money y for her son to have a medical procedure that will prevent him from going blind. This happens while she h herself erself is going blind yet she continues to do all she can to protect her son and raise the money needed for his surgery. She also has a deep love for musicals and often da daydreams ydreams about them throughout the film. Overture from Dancer in the Dark  was  was composed by b y Bjork for this film. It is a hauntingly beautiful piece that depicts the emotions emotio ns felt throughout the film. Slow, soaring melodies are used to create a sense of stillness yet also seem to push the music along. The piece was orchestrated for brass and timpani for use in the film but has since been adapted for a full wind band.

201 8, from Björk. (2014, April 02). Retrieved April 12, 2018, https://www.biography.com/people/björk-9542528   https://www.biography.com/people/björk-9542528 Pease, A. (2017, September 27). Overture from Dancer in the Dark by Björk Guðmundsdóttir, arr. Vince Mendoza. Retrieved April 12, 2018, from

 

 

http://windliterature.org/2011/08/24/overture-from-dancer-in-the-dark-by-bjork-

 

gudmundsdottir-arr-vince-mendoza/  gudmundsdottir-arr-vince-mendoza/ 

The Speed of Heat  by  by Julie Giroux Julie Giroux is an American composer from Fairhaven, Massachusetts. She began her musical career with learning piano starting at age 3 and began composing by the age of 8. Giroux is well known for her compositional contributions to movie mov ie scores, television, and video game credits. The Speed of Heat was commissioned by the United States Air Force Academy Academ y Band and was premiered by the group in the fall of 2010. The piece was written to portray an F-22 Raptor fighter pilot and the adventures they encounter. The music is broken up into several sections which are inspired by slang terms used by b y fighter pilots. The opening of the p piece iece is meant to depict the actual F-22 Raptor and then continues on to show various other elements that fighter  pilots experience. These sections are described on Giroux’s website as being:  being:  “"Fangs Out" (measure 39) When a pilot is hot for a dogfight.   "Lets Dance" (measure 52) Targets sighted and in active pursuit.  "Padlocked" (measure 115) To have a Bogey firmly in your sights &   "Beaded Up"- Worried or Excited.  "Heater Shpanked" (measure 148) Heater is a heat seeking missile.   Sphanked is soundly getting defeated in a dogfight & Flashbacks is the m musical usical description of a  pilot seeing his life flash in front of him in in slow motion.  "NFOD" & "Punch Out" (measure 168) No Fear Of Death and Eject.  

ex perience, the pilot gets back into h his is Back in a "Zoombag" (measure 211) After a near death experience, "flight suit."  "The Speed of Heat" (measure 229) Lets just see how fast we can go.   Breaking the Sound Barrier (measure 294) in this section the brass represent the sound barrier and the woodwinds depict the raptor. 

max.)”  "GAP" (measure 305 to end) Gauges all pinged (at max.)”

 

  The piece uses rhythmic passages, varied instrumentation, and beautiful melodic lines to create these different ideas. The ideas began relatively calmly and build in intensity as the mus music ic  progresses. The piece truly takes the listener on the journey of a fighter pilot. 

Biography. (n.d.). Retrieved April 12, 2018, from http://juliegiroux.www2.50megs.com/about_me.html   http://juliegiroux.www2.50megs.com/about_me.html o f Heat. Retrieved April 12, 2018, from Giroux, J. (n.d.). The Speed of http://juliegiroux.www2.50megs.com/speedofheat.html   http://juliegiroux.www2.50megs.com/speedofheat.html

Physical Approach:

Spring Festival by Festival by Chen Yi: This piece prominently features the percussion in the beginning be ginning of the piece as well as throughout. Because of this, I would make sure to work with the percussion section alone before rehearing the piece with the full group. This would ensure that we have a strong basis for rhythm and tempo before attempting to put it together as a full ensemble. There are also many moments in the piece where only onl y some sections of the band are pla playing ying and then trade off with other sections. I would work on the transitions between these sections of music to make them flow into each other rather than feeling like separate sections. se ctions. There are few sections of the piece where the full band is playing so it will be important to work on the differences in b balance alance and blend  between when only smaller segments of the band are playing and when the entire group is  playing.

 Dream Machine by Machine by Katherine Bergman:

 

 

This piece has very intimate, quiet moments, as well as very loud and intense moments. I

would pay a lot of attention to the dynamic contrast and work with the group to make their dynamic range larger and more noticeable. no ticeable. The entire piece almost feels like one large build and crescendo so making sure the group is not reaching a peak too early will help to avoid a feeling of plateauing. This will be difficult because it is a longer piece but is something the group can work together to accomplish. There are also some difficult rhythms that occur in the piece, specifically in the second half. These will have hav e to be worked out to make sure the group is  playing them in the same style and in time together. Many of these rhythms are repeated for a significant amount of time so it can be easy e asy to get lost in th them. em. Staying in time and making sure the players know where in the music we are at all times will be paramount to the success of the group.

 Dos Danzas for Concert Band  by  by Andrea Reinkemeyer: The first movement of the piece includes a lot of dynamic swelling. This is something the group will have to focus on exaggerating in order to create the musical effect intended. There are also a lot of trills and staggered entrances over a constant tango rhythm going on in the  background. It will be important that all of the players are familiar with with the tango rhythm in order to know where they are a re in the piece so that they enter at the appropriate times. I would have all players learn the tango rhythm, even if it is not aactually ctually in their part so that they could all become more familiar with it. The second movement is written in 8/8 but is felt in 3+3+2, rather than the traditional 2+2+2+2. I would work with students to understand this feel well so that they have a better understanding of which beats to emphasize more throughout the piece.

 

Tableaux de Provence by Provence by Paule Maurice, arr. Brian Sparks: For this piece, I will be bringing in a guest saxophonist from the local music school. I will be rehearsing the group without the saxophonist for most of the time during which we are  preparing for the concert. This will help them to become comfortable with their parts before before adding in a soloist who they the y must support. I will make sure that we are co constantly nstantly listening to recordings of the piece, however, so the group becomes familiar with how their parts work with the soloist. I will rehearse the group by making sure I am constantly doing different things with tempos and rubato in order to prepare them to become very attentive and flexible. When playing with the soloist, they will have to play close attention and adjust as needed tto o their tempo and and stylistic choices they make. By simulating this throughout our ou r rehearsals, it will be less of a shock when combining with the soloist.

 Albanian Dance by Dance by Shelley Hanson There is a central rhythm that drives this piece. It is a three note idea played with a longshort-short style. I would make sure that the band is very comfortable with this rhythm because it repeats throughout the entire song in various va rious sections. It is important that the band is able to play pla y this rhythm and stay together while repeating it. There is a lot of call and response that goes on in this piece as well so I would work to make sure that this feels smooth when transitioning  between the different sections playing. There are also several ornamentations added to the melody that make it very interesting and give it the Eastern European character. I would begin rehearsing by playing the melodies without these ornamentations, however, to make sure the group is playing correct notes with rhythmic accuracy. accu racy. I would slowly add in the ornamentations to give added effect to the piece.

 

  Overture from Dancer in the Dark  by  by Bjork This piece is very slow and many sections have rests for a significant portion of the music. This means it can be very v ery easy for people to get bor bored ed while rehearsing the piece. In o order rder to combat this, I will transpose the main melody line for all players so that we can all learn how to play it and phrase it correctly co rrectly together. This will keep players with less exciting parts engaged throughout the rehearsal. Obviously, we will eventually have to transition to the actual written  parts in the piece to work on balance but I think that when initially learning the piece, having everyone learn the melody together to gether would be beneficial. Phrasing is extremely important in this  piece and would be one of our main focuses. We would also work a lot on creating a full tone while playing very softly. The accompanying parts have to play very quietly for much of this  piece but I would not want their tone to suffer because of this.

The Speed of Heat  by  by Julie Giroux The piece begins with just percussion and slowly layers the other o ther sections in. The concept of layering and making sure all of the parts are able to be heard would be one we would have to work on. This would include working on concepts like balance, understanding when other parts come in, and staying rhythmically rh ythmically together. In the more intense sections of the piece there are difficult runs played by several instruments. I would work through these sections se ctions slowly at first and then gradually build up the speed. There are also some parts of the piece where there are soloists or smaller chamber groups of musicians playing rather than the full group. I would make sure that we are able to transition in and out of these sections without feeling chopp choppy. y.