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I have created this site in order to provide performers, listeners and composers with a description of a composer's experiences with the creative process. The posts will provide discussions of the inspirations, challenges, and successes of a composer from the inception of the piece to the culmination in performance. I will provide a link to where you can see and hear the works in progress. Comments and questions are always welcomed. They will not posted unless you grant me permission.

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Bandscapes Movement 13 - Finale Variations

I am pleased that I have completed the last movement to Bandscapes. Before I discuss it, let me once again thank the sixteen bands that have joined the consortium to help make this composition possible. I am very pleased with the results as the composition and poetry accomplishes what I set out to do; creating a composition that introduces the instruments of the band to an audience of all ages in a manner that is educational, entertaining, and artistic. I am sending a copy of the score to the participating bands so that can they can review what I have written and suggest any simplifications that might be made as ossia parts to accommodate the level of their band.

Narration for Finale Variations

After all these solos, it is time for review
First the band plays a theme that is totally new.
Many variations follow that alter the theme
Like 31 flavors of Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream.

Now that you have heard the instruments featured
We will mix them together to create new creatures.
Brand new colors by combining the tones
Clarioboe, tubassoon, xyloflute and baribone.

We hope that you have enjoyed this tour of the band
Its many sounds are surely grand.
Sit back and relax and keep an instrument tally
While the concert band plays its glorious finale.


My goal in this last movement was to create a theme and variations where different combinations of instruments could be explored. I had two false starts trying find a theme that would work before coming up with the one I settled on. This theme is like a passacaglia theme in that it first appears in the bass instruments and then new treatments occur over it. The theme itself is 16 measures long and consists of 4 four measure phrases forming and ABA'B' structure of a double period (antecedent, consequence ending on the dominant, antecedent, consequence). There are frequent orchestration changes during the theme, sometimes every 8 measures and sometimes every 4, giving the movement a lot of timbral variety. I had to be careful to double sufficiently so that if some instrumentation is lacking, the timbres are covered by the more common instruments.

Another challenge I faced with this movement was the regularity of the meter (3/4) and phrasing. I felt that this regularity needed to broken up without destroying the essential nature of the theme. I accomplished by changing some phrase endings to 2/4 or 4/4, overlapping into the next phrase, and retardations (suspending the leading tone resolution over the chord change before resolving upward).

Another ingredient that makes this apparently simple structure more complex is the use of imitation. Measure 16 and 17 usher in the first use between the trumpets and oboe combination and the clarinets. Slight bitonality is used here as well. Measure 32 introduces a counter melody that uses a dotted rhythm that is also treated imitatively. At measure 48, the theme itself is varied through the use of triplets and then subject to imitation. The dotted rhythm idea also occurs with its on imitation creating double counterpoint. This dotted rhythm imitation disguising the 3/4 pattern as it occurs every two beats therefore creating a hemiola feel. At measure 60, the last phrase of the theme appears in 4 part counterpoint one beat apart.

After a two measure percussion and piccolo interlude, the final variation begins at measure 67 with an augmentation of the theme's rhythm into straight eighth notes and an eighth note triplet before sustaining. The woodwinds play flourishes during the sustain notes. Further fragmentation and inversion of a motive from the last phrase of the theme, brings the meter into 2/4. Repetition and increased instrumentation and dynamics lead to the climatic ending.

I use flip pdf technology for the musical examples that go along with my posts. It uses Flash Player that most browsers come with. You will be hearing an mp3 of sampled sounds playing the music and you will see the score at the same time. You will need to turn the pages by clicking on the arrows at the appropriate time and you can use the zoom in feature to see more detail on larger scores. To see and hear what I have discussed, go to http://www.cooppress.net/Bandscapes_blog.html.

Please read earlier posts for information about earlier movements. As always, your comments are appreciated.

Dr. B

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Bandscapes Movements 10, 11, and 12

I am surprised with how quickly this composition is coming together. When I say quickly, I mean that it is taking me 4-6 hours for the smaller movements and 3-4 times as long for the first movement. I think the reason why it feels fast is because there is not much development of the material as I'm am trying to keep each "instrument demonstration" movement to 30-45 seconds. However, I do try to add slight variations to initial idea, whether it be orchestration, ornamentation, rhythm, dynamics, articulation, tempo, etc.

Here is the narration for Baritone Ballad (with apologies to Shakespeare)

What's in a name? That which we call a baritone


By any other name would sound as sweet;
So a baritone would, if it were a euphonium call'd,


Retain that dear perfection.

Its deep rich voice sounds like Romeo in love
Singing to Juliet on the balcony above
This lyrical ballad its amorous voice
Euphonium or baritone, the player’s choice.


A 5/4 meter in a slow tempo was chosen for this movement. I look for little ways to give fairly straight-forward music a little twist and in this case, the 5/4 meter creates a different rhythmic feel for the ballad. I also use rich jazz harmony and the accompaniment is syncopated. There is a blues feel to some of the motives. 

Narration for Tuba Tango

The tuba rounds out the band’s brass section
Its deep low voice sounding to perfection.
When it wraps around the head it is called a sousaphone
Because of its size, with a lot of wind it’s blown.

Known for its oom-pah due to polkas and marches
Supporting the band like majestic arches
Now it is featured in this Argentine dance
Sensuous and sultry, a mesmerizing trance.


The form of this short moveent is in ABAB with A being diatonic and B being chromatic. The full band section is very colorful with French Horn and trombone rips (glissandi).

Narration for Percussion Polka

The percussion make their sounds by striking
Almost anything they find to their liking.
Some of the sounds have a definite pitch
Others have none, yet still are rich.

Xylophones, timpani, and bells sounding clear
Things hitting metal, skin and wood you will hear
Mallets and sticks and even a spoon
Creating this polka, a light lilting tune.


The band plays a short introduction before the percussion take over with an AABA form. The 4 measures main theme starts diatonically and finishes chromatically. These 4 measure phrases are followed by the indefinite pitch percussion along with the timpani. The triangle and the suspended cymbal are indeed hit with a spoon as the poem suggests.

I use flip pdf technology for the musical examples that go along with my posts. It uses Flash Player that most browsers come with. You will be hearing an mp3 of sampled sounds playing the music and you will see the score at the same time. You will need to turn the pages by clicking on the arrows at the appropriate time and you can use the zoom in feature to see more detail on larger scores. To see and hear what I have discussed, go to http://www.cooppress.net/Bandscapes_blog.html.

Please read earlier posts for information about earlier movements. As always, your comments are appreciated.

Dr. B