Since my last post, I am pleased to welcome two additional bands as part of the consortium: Rotterdam Town Band Schenectady, NY Mark Eiser, Conductor and the Gulf Coast Concert Band Pasadena, TX Ben Butler II, Conductor. That makes a total so far of 15. Other bands are still welcome to join and you can be part of the dedication page and receive score and parts for just $50.
The second movement is Flute Fandango. Here is the poem:
The highest woodwinds lead the parade.
The piercing piccolo and fluttering flutes.
Metal descendants from wooden roots.
Blown like a Coke bottle
Keys fingered full throttle.
They dance with dexterity
With Spanish celerity.
The Fandango is a Spanish dance in 3 with rapid passages. It also uses a rhythmic pattern that accents beat 3 in the first measure and beat 2 in the second measure. The percussion begin this movement with that pattern in the tambourine that is reinforced by the timpani, bass drum and a bass line. The flutes and piccolo play the melodic material. It is possible to do this movement with three flutes if a piccolo is not available. Muted brass add to the Spanish color and a bit of imitation of a short motive involves some of the rest of the band near the end.
The third movement is an Ode to the Oboe. Here is the poem:
Most woodwinds make sound with a single reed
A thin strip of wood that vibrates indeed
The oboe has two, laid back to back
That sounds like a duck, ready to quack.
When placed in a hole at the top of a tube
The quack mellows out and certainly soothes
We pay tribute to the oboe with a lyrical song
Touching the heart where emotions belong.
The first oboe is featured and the second oboe has some fills that are cued in the alto saxophone part if no second oboe is present. It is a lyrical piece in 6/8 with lush harmony. The full band gets to shine for two measures at the climax of the movement towards the middle.
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
Friday, November 15, 2013
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Bandscapes Movement 1
There are now 13 bands that are part of the Bandscapes Commission Consortium (see posts below for more information). The two latest bands are the Hinsdale Town Band Hinsdale, NH Matt Kennedy, Conductor and the Dalton-Whitfield Community Band Dalton, GA Ellie Jenkins, Conductor. My initial deadline of November 8th was to determine if there was enough interest to move forward with this project. Other bands are welcome to become a part of the consortium up until the work is completed by the end of December 2013. The cost is only $50 which is not due until after score and parts are sent and the band and conductor will be listed on the dedication page of the score.
I decided to write poetry for the suggested narration for this composition. Poetry is another one of my passions and I have been writing poems for over 40 years. Here is poem for the first movement:
The first movement, Intrada, opens with a fanfare. The Allegro theme is first presented by the woodwinds alone. The woodwinds begin the second statement of the theme with three part imitation before melding into rhythmic unison. In this section, the brass and percussion add the counterpoint. The brass then usher in a contrasting section that is reminiscent of the opening fanfares. The percussion then takes over as the focal point with some brass punctuations derived from the previous section. There is a recapitulation of the woodwind parts of the movement with some slight variation before the coda. The coda returns to the opening fanfare tempo before accelerating to an exciting conclusion. The last chord serves as both an ending for the movement and is purposely slightly unsettled, indicating that there is more to come.
The second movement begins the tour of the individual families of instruments starting with the piccolo and flutes. Each of these movements with be 30"-45" long. Here is narration for the next movement as a teaser of what is to come.
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.
As always, your comments are appreciated.
Dr. B
I decided to write poetry for the suggested narration for this composition. Poetry is another one of my passions and I have been writing poems for over 40 years. Here is poem for the first movement:
Celebrate the band!
Whirling woodwinds
Bold brass
Pounding percussion
From pickling piccolos
To tumbling tubas
Spectrum of sounds
Delight the senses.
Delight the senses.
The first movement, Intrada, opens with a fanfare. The Allegro theme is first presented by the woodwinds alone. The woodwinds begin the second statement of the theme with three part imitation before melding into rhythmic unison. In this section, the brass and percussion add the counterpoint. The brass then usher in a contrasting section that is reminiscent of the opening fanfares. The percussion then takes over as the focal point with some brass punctuations derived from the previous section. There is a recapitulation of the woodwind parts of the movement with some slight variation before the coda. The coda returns to the opening fanfare tempo before accelerating to an exciting conclusion. The last chord serves as both an ending for the movement and is purposely slightly unsettled, indicating that there is more to come.
The second movement begins the tour of the individual families of instruments starting with the piccolo and flutes. Each of these movements with be 30"-45" long. Here is narration for the next movement as a teaser of what is to come.
Narration for Flute Fandango
The highest woodwinds lead the parade.
The piercing piccolo and fluttering flutes.
Metal descendants from wooden roots.
Blown like a Coke bottle
Keys fingered full throttle.
They dance with dexterity
With Spanish celerity.
With Spanish celerity.
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.
As always, your comments are appreciated.
Dr. B
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Band Commission Consortium - November 6 update
As you can see below, we have enough bands expressing interest to make this a reality. In fact, I have already begun working on the first movement and will be posting about it shortly. If any other bands are interested in joining the consortium, please read the post before this one. I am accepting bands up until the time that the score goes to print, which I anticipate to be around December 31. No money is necessary until you receive the score and parts. Thank you to all the bands that have expressed interest.
Dr. B
Interested Bands as of 11/6/13:
West Valley Pops Band Sun City, AZ Larry Swanson, Conductor
Pomona Concert Band Pomona, CA Linda Taylor, Conductor
Coronado Community Band Coronado, CA Phil Imming, Conductor
Central Florida Winds Satellite Beach, FL Richard Sabino, Conductor
West Bay Community Band Milbrae, CA Doug Miner, Conductor
Suncoast Concert Band Sarasota, FL Robert Stoll, Conductor
Tulare Community Band Tulare, CA Bill Ingram, Conductor
Wauwatosa Community Band Wauwatosa, WI Donna Kummer, Conductor
Shippensburg Band Shippensburg, PA Carl Sponenberg, Conductor
Cottonwood Community Band Cottonwood, AZ Will Norris, Conductor
Green Valley Concert Band Green Valley, AZ John Snavely, Conductor
Dr. B
Interested Bands as of 11/6/13:
West Valley Pops Band Sun City, AZ Larry Swanson, Conductor
Pomona Concert Band Pomona, CA Linda Taylor, Conductor
Coronado Community Band Coronado, CA Phil Imming, Conductor
Central Florida Winds Satellite Beach, FL Richard Sabino, Conductor
West Bay Community Band Milbrae, CA Doug Miner, Conductor
Suncoast Concert Band Sarasota, FL Robert Stoll, Conductor
Tulare Community Band Tulare, CA Bill Ingram, Conductor
Wauwatosa Community Band Wauwatosa, WI Donna Kummer, Conductor
Shippensburg Band Shippensburg, PA Carl Sponenberg, Conductor
Cottonwood Community Band Cottonwood, AZ Will Norris, Conductor
Green Valley Concert Band Green Valley, AZ John Snavely, Conductor
Monday, October 21, 2013
Band Commissioning Consortium
Please forgive my own self promotion of this project, but I am very excited about this and want to give band directors an opportunity to be a part of it.
“Bandscapes” Commissioning Consortium
I would like to invite you to participate in a band commissioning consortium for $50. Each participating school or organization would receive the following:
· PDF files of the score and individual parts along with an mp3 of an electronic realization
· A listing as one of the commissioning organizations and its director on the title page of the composition that will be published through Co-op Press and distributed through J.W. Pepper
· The right to print as many copies of the score and parts as needed for personal use and the right to perform the composition as often as desired.
The composition I am planning to write is a 10 minute piece called “Bandscapes” that would be a showcase for the sections of the band. The first movement would have an opening section that features the full band followed by features for the woodwinds, brass and percussion sections. Short movements (around 30 seconds each) showcasing each of the families within the band (flutes, oboes, clarinets, low clarinets, etc.) will follow. The finale will once again feature the entire band. The composition would be playable by high school/college level bands by my creating A and B versions of the movements and by carefully cueing exposed parts. Bands lacking instrumentation for the instrument family features can simply omit those movements. A suggested optional narration will be included so that the composition can be used on educational concerts.
The timeline for this project is as follows:
· No later that November 1, 2013 – expression of interest
· November and December – creation of the composition
· January 2014 – payment required and emailing of pdf files of score and parts and mp3 of electronic version of the composition
My bio and samples of my music can be found at my website http://www.cooppress.net/
Please feel free to contact me using sybrandon at gmail.com if you have further questions. Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to hearing from interested parties.
Dr. Sy Brandon
Professor Emeritus of Music
Millersville University of PA
“Bandscapes” Commissioning Consortium
I would like to invite you to participate in a band commissioning consortium for $50. Each participating school or organization would receive the following:
· PDF files of the score and individual parts along with an mp3 of an electronic realization
· A listing as one of the commissioning organizations and its director on the title page of the composition that will be published through Co-op Press and distributed through J.W. Pepper
· The right to print as many copies of the score and parts as needed for personal use and the right to perform the composition as often as desired.
The composition I am planning to write is a 10 minute piece called “Bandscapes” that would be a showcase for the sections of the band. The first movement would have an opening section that features the full band followed by features for the woodwinds, brass and percussion sections. Short movements (around 30 seconds each) showcasing each of the families within the band (flutes, oboes, clarinets, low clarinets, etc.) will follow. The finale will once again feature the entire band. The composition would be playable by high school/college level bands by my creating A and B versions of the movements and by carefully cueing exposed parts. Bands lacking instrumentation for the instrument family features can simply omit those movements. A suggested optional narration will be included so that the composition can be used on educational concerts.
The timeline for this project is as follows:
· No later that November 1, 2013 – expression of interest
· November and December – creation of the composition
· January 2014 – payment required and emailing of pdf files of score and parts and mp3 of electronic version of the composition
My bio and samples of my music can be found at my website http://www.cooppress.net/
Please feel free to contact me using sybrandon at gmail.com if you have further questions. Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to hearing from interested parties.
Dr. Sy Brandon
Professor Emeritus of Music
Millersville University of PA
Monday, October 7, 2013
Modern Jazz Suite Movement 4
Hello readers,
It may seem like I have fallen off the face of the earth as I have not posted in quite a while. Part of the reason was because I as on tour to Oklahoma for performances of my music by the h2 Saxophone Quartet in Oklahoma and for some presentations along the way. Another reason is that I was waiting to hear back from Todd and Mark regarding the last movement of Modern Jazz Suite. They were both busy with other projects this summer. We now have the premiere scheduled for April 21, 2014 at Texas State University so it is time that I got caught up discussing the last movement.
It was while writing this last movement that I decided to change the titles of the movements to tributes to the major figure in each modern jazz style. Therefore the movements are Parkeriana, Milesiana, Schulleriana, and Corealiana respectively.
Since the last movement is in a jazz rock style, I decided to use an electric guitar. The form of the movement is head, guitar solo, saxophone solo, riff passage, head, ending. A lot of different guitar effects are used including slap tone, tone bends, pizzicato, and use of the whammy bar. The saxophonist does some slap tonguing. Jazz rock rhythms permeate the movement.
I am now using 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. To see and hear what I have discussed, go to http://www.cooppress.net/modern_jazz_suite_blog.html.
As always, your comments are appreciated.
Dr. B
It may seem like I have fallen off the face of the earth as I have not posted in quite a while. Part of the reason was because I as on tour to Oklahoma for performances of my music by the h2 Saxophone Quartet in Oklahoma and for some presentations along the way. Another reason is that I was waiting to hear back from Todd and Mark regarding the last movement of Modern Jazz Suite. They were both busy with other projects this summer. We now have the premiere scheduled for April 21, 2014 at Texas State University so it is time that I got caught up discussing the last movement.
It was while writing this last movement that I decided to change the titles of the movements to tributes to the major figure in each modern jazz style. Therefore the movements are Parkeriana, Milesiana, Schulleriana, and Corealiana respectively.
Since the last movement is in a jazz rock style, I decided to use an electric guitar. The form of the movement is head, guitar solo, saxophone solo, riff passage, head, ending. A lot of different guitar effects are used including slap tone, tone bends, pizzicato, and use of the whammy bar. The saxophonist does some slap tonguing. Jazz rock rhythms permeate the movement.
I am now using 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. To see and hear what I have discussed, go to http://www.cooppress.net/modern_jazz_suite_blog.html.
As always, your comments are appreciated.
Dr. B
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
National Broadcast of My Composition
This week, my composition "Prelude and Festive Celebration" for clarinet and organ is part of the American Public Radio Pipedreams program "Organ and Friends" that is broadcast nationally over many public radio stations. You can listen anytime on the web at http://pipedreams.publicradio.org/listings/2013/1330/ My piece is during the first hour from 9:22 to 17:23. I am honored that my music and CD label Emeritus Recordings product is included in this program.
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Performer and Composer Partnerships
As a composer and performer, I am very concerned about the gap that exists between today’s composers and the rest of the musical community, whether they are performers or listeners. One way to help bridge this gap is for composers and performers to work together to create win-win opportunities. I have done this throughout my career from both the composer and performer end and continue to do so through my publishing company, Co-op Press.
The purpose of my publishing company is to partner with performers to serve their needs. To this end, we have created numerous opportunities that we feel serve the needs of performers at various levels of accomplishment. Accomplished musicians at any level can apply for our Commission Assistance Grant or our Fund Raising Program. Accomplished musicians at an advanced level can apply for our Recording Assistance Grant or to become part of our Performing Partner Program. If you perform with groups of unusual instrumentation, we can often adapt our chamber music selections to fit your instrumentation. We offer some free music at our website as well as a free guide to practicing. Right now, if your sign up for our mailing list, we are offering a free copy of my Holiday Etudes/Duets that contains original pieces that celebrate various holidays throughout the year. All of our profits go into supporting these programs. We are always looking for ways we can better serve the performer, so any ideas are welcomed. Please visit my website at http://cooppress.net for more information on any of these programs.
I encourage other composers and performers to be creative in working together where the exchange of money is not the primary criteria.
Dr. B
The purpose of my publishing company is to partner with performers to serve their needs. To this end, we have created numerous opportunities that we feel serve the needs of performers at various levels of accomplishment. Accomplished musicians at any level can apply for our Commission Assistance Grant or our Fund Raising Program. Accomplished musicians at an advanced level can apply for our Recording Assistance Grant or to become part of our Performing Partner Program. If you perform with groups of unusual instrumentation, we can often adapt our chamber music selections to fit your instrumentation. We offer some free music at our website as well as a free guide to practicing. Right now, if your sign up for our mailing list, we are offering a free copy of my Holiday Etudes/Duets that contains original pieces that celebrate various holidays throughout the year. All of our profits go into supporting these programs. We are always looking for ways we can better serve the performer, so any ideas are welcomed. Please visit my website at http://cooppress.net for more information on any of these programs.
I encourage other composers and performers to be creative in working together where the exchange of money is not the primary criteria.
Dr. B
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