TIM REYNISH WEBSITE
FEBRUARY 2007
The briefest of introductions for the February Homepage is necessary. First it is really exciting to find two of our greatest international professional military bands providing role models in recordings and programming – see news below of HM Royal Marines and President’s Own. New music is of course our life-blood, so news of new commissions from John Mackey and Marco Pütz is most welcome. News too of a Gorb-Fest in middle England, the WASBE and BASBWE Conferences and notes on a most important clinic from a tuba player. Our conducting skills will improve by leaps and bounds if we take all of David McCormick’s suggestions on board.
HM Royal Marines new recording
Two concerts by HM Royal Marines and the President’s Own
New commission from John Mackey
Featured composer at BASBWE Conference is Marco Pütz
BASBWE Midland and NOW joint sponsors of Adam Gorb Festival
BASBWE Glasgow Conference programme shapes up for June 29/30/July 1st
MAECENAS MUSIC in Northampton, Newcastle and Norway and elsewhere
ACCOLADE – New Maecenas series
PLEASE CONDUCT - DON’T TALK – a view from the bottom
** WASBE Conference early registration deadline 23rd March **
SEND IN THE
MARINES….
On both sides of the Atlantic
The latest in the series of recordings by the Band of HM Royal Marines is now available on line price £12.00 for UK, £14.40 overseas from Royal Navy Compact Discs
The disc starts with the premier recording of Terra Australis by Martin Ellerby, commissioned by the Royal Marines. Two concertos are featured, Adam Gorb’s delightful jazzy Trombone Concerto Downtown Diversions and Richard Rodney Bennett’s Trumpet Concerto, with soloist Peter Turnbull of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. The recording is completed with Derek Bourgeois’ ebullient Diversions. The band is conducted by the Principal Director of Music, Lt Col Chris Davis and recorded in the RM Band Service Recording
Facility. The catalogue number is CHVCD25. A review will follow in March.
THE ROYAL MARINES WIND ENSEMBLE
TURNER SIMS CONCERT HALL, SOUTHAMPTON UNIVERSITY
Friday 9 February at 7.30. pm
Mozart – Serenade No. 10 in Bb (Gran Partita)
Richard Strauss – Serenade in Eb Opus 7; Suite in Bb Opus 4
PRESIDENT’S OWN
US Marine Band March 4th at the Schlesinger Auditorium, Alexandria, VA
David Chaitkin Premiere of USMB Commission
Morton Gould - Concertette for Viola and Band
Soloist: Miles Hoffman
Eric Stokes - The Continental Harp and Band Report
Notes on the USMB programme by Colonel Mike Colbourn
Colonel Mike Colbourn writes:
The major work on the concert Eric Stokes sprawling, Ivesian montage entitled “The Continental Harp and Band Report.” The work was commissioned by the Minnesota Orchestra (it‘s scored for orchestral winds) to commemorate their first season in their new concert hall in 1975. The work consists of nine wildly varying movements, some of which provide light and amusing musical commentary on our society, others of which are much more serious and insightful representations of images and concepts ranging from the American Revolution to Peter Breugel‘s engraving “The Triumph of Time.” There is no other piece in our repertoire quite like it.
This program will also feature the premiere of a new Marine Band commission from David Chaitkin. David was born in New York City (where he still resides), studied at Pomona College and UC Berkley, where he received the Prix de Paris. Among his principal teachers were Dallapiccola, Shifrin, Deutsch, Imbrie, and Karl Kohn. We have been a fan of David‘s music since we performed “Summersong,” his only other work for winds (recorded by Arthur Weisberg on Cri) Although it is scored for the same instrumentation as “Summersong,” “Celebration” reveals some new trends and ideas in David‘s compositional approach. I‘m confident that it will be a welcome addition to the repertoire of the wind ensemble.
For this concert we've also invited violist Miles Hoffman to join us for a rare performance of Morton Gould‘s Concertette for Viola and Band. You may be familiar with Miles from his commentary on the NPR programs “Performance Today” and “Morning Edition.” Gould wrote this work in 1943, during the height of his career as a radio composer. The work is vintage Gould, complete with clever, ironic, and witty writing that is loaded with charm and appeal Hope you‘ll consider joining us!
JOHN MACKEY
John Mackey, the 2005 ABA/Ostwald winning composer of REDLINE TANGO, has agreed to write a Concerto for Soprano Saxophone and Wind Orchestra. Currently, the Dallas Wind Symphony and The University of Texas are in the process of organizing a consortium for this work. The premiere performance will take place in the fall of 2007
THE WIND MUSIC OF MARCO PÜTZ
One of the featured composers at the Glasgow BASBWE Conference at the end of June will be the distinguished composer, Marco Pütz. For many members of WASBE, he emerged as the outstanding composer at the 2005 Conference in Singapore, and since then his music has become more widely known on both sides of the Atlantic. Pütz was born in Esch/Alzette (Luxembourg) in 1958 and studied music (saxophone, chamber music, harmony, counterpoint, conducting) in Esch/Alzette, Luxembourg-City, Brussels and Liège (Belgium). Currently he is professor for saxophone, chamber music and instrumentation at the Conservatory of Luxembourg; he is an ex-founder member of the Luxembourg Saxophone Quartet (1982-2006) and from 1981 – 2006 he currently played the saxophone with the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra.
Since 1987 Marco has written more than 50 works; many of these are especially for wind instruments and for Symphonic Wind Band, but his list of works also includes one musical for children, a string quartet and works for chamber orchestra. His works for band are in a traditional musical language and yet are dramatic and romantic without falling into the hackneyed cliché of more commercial music. As a fine player and teacher, he understands the needs of both wind and brass players, writing challenging but idiomatically and creating music of emotional intensity which can be tackled by less experienced orchestras and audiences
THE EARTH DOES NOT BELONG TO MAN, MAN BELONGS TO THE EARTH
His two early largescale works made an immediate impression, both commissioned by the Conservatory of Luxembourg. The first, Prae Monitio, was written in 1991; it is scored for mezzo soprano and symphonic band, is a tersely argued work at the climax of which the soloist sings and declaims the famous words of the Indian Chief Seattle who in 1854, met with a delegation of white settlers to discuss the handing over of the traditional tribal lands. The Chief is credited with a wonderfully prophetic speech on the future of our planet under the white man.
A year later Pütz wrote Meltdown, a symphonic poem depicting the meltdown of a nuclear reactor and the resulting frenzied dance of the nuclear particles. In 1995 he won the first prize at the International Clarinet Association Composition Contest with his Quatuor pour clarinettes.
Other works include The Legend of Aquarius (1997) and Sinfonietta for Band (1998) but perhaps his biggest contribution to the repertoire is the series of fine concerti, often written for less familiar instruments. These include the Concerto for Flute and Band (1995), the Concertino for Horn and Wind Band (1996) which was awarded the 2nd prize at the 2nd Concorso Internationale Augusto Cagnan in Treviso (Italy), the Konzertstücke for Bass Trombone (1999) and his Clarinet Concerto (2005).
WASBE COMMISSIONS
Two works have been commissioned by sections of WASBE. Dance Sequence by the WASBE Schools consortium set up by Richard Jones, and Improvisation and Fugato, commissioned by WASBE Germany. More recently he has arranged for wind band his Euphonium Concerto, written for British virtuoso Stephen Mead, and Derivations, an obligatory piece for Fanfare Bands at the Kerkrade contest of 2005. Among works to be featured in Glasgow is his moving score from 2006 Die Judenbuche. His most recent work, the Concerto for Trumpet and Band, is a joint commission as part of the William Reynish Memorial series, and will be premiered later this year. More information can be found on his website www.marcopuetz.lu
His principal publisher is:
Bronsheim
PO-Box 193
6440 AD Brunssum
The Netherlands
Phone: +31 – (0) 45 525 90 60
Fax: +31 – (0) 45 527 46 96
E-Mail: music@bronsheim.nl
ADAM GORB FESTIVAL
14th – 15th April 2007
Northamptonshire Orchestral Winds (NOW) is hosting an Adam Gorb Festival in April. NOW (established in October 2005) is a community Wind Band College with three bands and affordable opportunities for anyone in the community whatever age or ability to learn how best to play wind, brass and percussion instruments in this complex ensemble.
This groundbreaking weekend Gorb Feast is open to all wind, brass and percussion players of about grade 8+ standard. NOW’s quick success has mainly been down to the drive and enthusiasm of their musical director Andrew Bassey, a professional musician with some 25 years experience; who is also co–directing the event with the composer and head of composition at the Royal Northern College of Music, Adam Gorb.
At the 2 day event, attendees will play some of Adam’s most challenging and exciting pieces for large wind ensemble and will have to opportunity to conduct his rhythmically teasing ‘Bermuda Triangle’ which NOW recorded in summer 2006 on their debut CD ‘Celebration!’ Adam described this recording as ‘The best I’ve heard yet.’ The second day will culminate in an early evening performance of the works rehearsed.
Andrew Bassey said ‘We are very excited about Adam coming to Wellingborough to help us develop NOW. Adam is Head of Composition at Royal Northern College of Music and will not only bring his wonderful teaching and conducting skills but more importantly his intimate knowledge of his own works, including insights into wonderful ways of approaching his innate styles and bringing this more challenging band music to life.’
The course costs £85 for the whole weekend which includes meals and refreshments for both days. With an extra charge of £15 for those players who would like to conduct Bermuda Triangle. Assistance can be given in finding accommodation for those wishing to stay overnight.
This event is being held at Wellingborough School in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire from Saturday 14th April – Sunday 15th April 2007. For more information, visit the website www.now4band.co.uk or call (Freephone) 0800 0789 149.
2007 International Wind Festival
Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama
Thursday 28th June (evening) to 1st July 2007
For the first time since 1990 the International Wind Festival returns to Scotland and the first rate facilities of the RSAMD. We are assembling a fantastic programme of concerts, clinics, master classes, lectures and – of course – social events, making this a must-attend event.
MAECENAS COMPOSERS NEWS
GORB FLIES EAST Adam Gorb is guest clinician in Singapore for education sessions on his latest work, Sunrise and Safari for Concert Band, commissioned by the Co-Curricular Activities Branch of the Ministry of Education, Singapore, for the 2007 Singapore Youth Festival. This work will not be available on sale in Europe or the USA until July 2007.
NORTHAMPTON TO NEWCASTLE Dances from Crete won NOW, Northampton Orchestral Winds, a Gold Award in the recent NCBF regional event, and the group under conductor Andrew Bassey will take the work to Newcastle for the finals. The work was also featured recently in concerts at the University of Oregon under Bob Ponto.
Recent performances of Yiddish Dances took place at St. Cloud State University, Minnesota, Cal State University Fullerton, Florida State University, Tallahassee, and it was included in the repertoire for a tour of Latvia by the Dutch National Youth Wind Band under Alex Schillings,
MARTIN ELLERBY’ s earliest band work Paris Sketches is still extremely popular. Performances have been logged by Austin Symphonic Band, Texas, University of Washington, Rutgers University, McGill University Canada, Tokyo Kosei; the second movement, Les Halles, was played on National Public Radio, who recommend the full recording by North Texas on Klavier 11124 conducted by Eugene Miraglio Corporon.
STEPHEN MCNEFF is completing his most recent commission, Image in Stone, for mezzo soprano and wind ensemble, which will be premiered this summer at the BASBWE and WASBE conferences by the Irish Youth Wind Ensemble. His Clarinet Concerto was played at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama by Katy Ayling conducted by Helena Gaunt, together with Judith Bingham’s exciting Three American Icons.
Ghosts by Stephen McNeff, resident composer with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, is another work which is receiving many performances, recently at Kingston University Wind Orchestra conducted by David Osbon, in China by the Taipei Sirens Winds Concert Band under Zhang Ying-Zhong, by the Ithaca Symphonic Band and later this Spring at Warrington by the North Cheshire Concert Band. In Norway the Vestidens Musikkorps won the Community Band class with a performance of Ghosts
Fergal Carroll’s Winter Dances was played recently by Manchester University Wind Orchestra to celebrate their 10th anniversary under their founder, Phil Robinson, and in Pennsylvania at Elizabethtown University conducted by Jessica Kun.
Tails aus dem Vood Viennoise by Bill Connor is in my view the closest we can get to giving our Grade 3 and 4 students a taste of the emotional experience of playing Mahler. Recent performances include those by the Knightwind Ensemble Ensemble Milwaukee conducted by John Steinke, and Michigan State University conducted by Isaiah Odajima. The recording by Ithaca College Symphonic Band is available on 6733-MCD from Mark Custom Records or Shattinger. On Sunday 22nd April it will be featured in University Series Concert at the Firth Hall, Sheffield, in A Grand Celebration of the World of Wind Music, a special collaboration with the Symphonic Wind Orchestras from Sheffield, Manchester and Leeds Universities
Programme to include:
Sun paints Rainbows over the Vast Waves David Bedford
Buffalo Kevin Malone
Flute Concerto Mike Mower soloist Jenny Doyne
Tails aus dem Vood Viennoise Bill Connor
'In Nostro Tempo' World Première of a major new work for symphonic wind by Charles Camilleri and a new student composition.
NEW SERIES FROM MAECENAS ACCOLADE
Accolade is about attractive, enjoyable works that engage the imagination and enthusiasm of a wide range of players, and audiences will love. Some are on the lighter side, some more serious and many make demands that will keep players on their toes. Repertoire is carefully chosen but nothing is off-limits providing it is rewarding to play and hear. The transcriptions and re-workings are by the composers themselves or made under their supervision, and set out to make a few favourites from other musical media available to wind orchestras and ensembles. All are specifically commissioned for the series and are by distinguished figures or exciting new talents in the windmusic world.
The first works to be released in the ACCOLADE series are:
Festivities Overture for Concert Band
Originally written for the Philharmonia Orchestra to open the Welsh Proms, this is a high-spirited, upbeat, furious, exhilarating curtain raiser that really sets the mood of celebration. It’s fast, furious, fun and loses nothing in the composer’s reworking for the concert band.
Martin Ellerby
Prelude for Hampstead Heath for Concert Band
Almost a ‘Paris Sketch’ for London! Join in the jostling crowds for a summer day of enjoyment, romance, mischief, or just listen to the band. A long time favourite for brass; the masterly concert band version adds a new range of colour to this bustling holiday snapshot.
7 minutes
PLEASE CONDUCT, DON’T TALK
If you browse the Mid-West Clinic website you will come across under Clinicians a tab for Clinic Handouts, giving all of the main handouts since 2000. There is an enormous fund of information in these pages, but as a conductor, probably the most valuable clinic that I discovered was by a tuba player/conductor/administrator of huge experience, who has distilled his view of conductors into 29 pithy paragraphs. David McCormick has given me permission to reprint this invaluable clinic. While aimed at community band conductors, his comments are equally pertinent for those of conducting school, college or professional bands. To reprint any of this material, please contact David McCormick
Tim Reynish, NBA International Chair
After several decades as a conductor, tuba player, teacher and university administrator, David C. McCormick now makes music solely for enjoyment, playing in the Naples (Florida) Concert Band and the Paradise Brass Quintet. He also appears as a guest conductor and clinician. McCormick has served on the Midwest Clinic staff and board of directors since 1956, and on the Association of Concert Bands president’s advisory council since 2003. His “Community Band: A Special Kind of Organization,” addressing many topics, is at www.ACBands.org. He and his wife Connie live in Fort Myers, Florida.
PLEASE CONDUCT, DON’T TALK
From the Rear Row and Lowest Voice
A Tuba Player’s Reminders for Community Band Conductors
David C. McCormick
The Midwest Clinic
December 16, 2005
Sponsored by the Association of Concert Bands
“Give a musician a baton, and it goes to his mouth.”
(Rochester Philharmonic violinist, related by Marvin Rabin, emeritus
professor, University of Wisconsin)
“Speaking about music is like dancing about nuclear physics.”
(An anonymous wise person)
“I am told and I forget, I read and I remember,
I do and I understand.”
(Ancient Chinese proverb)
“Time is every person’s most precious resource. If wasted, it can never
be recouped, and all remaining years of life are diminished.”
(Composer/Conductor Alfred Reed)
I. You conduct, we’ll play enthusiastically. You talk, we’ll lost interest. Music is an aural art, not verbal.
II. Words are inadequate for most things musical. Of the relatively few words that can apply to music, most can be expressed by conducting - louder, softer, faster, slower, legato, staccato, accent, marcato, cantabile, etc.
III. Please speak only in those rare instances when the subject can’t be communicated visually. Conducting is visual, not verbal. Singing is better than speaking. Expect speaking to have little or no effect. Record rehearsal and measure the amount of time talking; take note of ineffective words.
IV. I present nothing new about baton technique, but I give a player’s perspective.
V. Our job as players is to execute the conductor’s interpretation.
VI. Your job as conductor is to do what we players cannot do for ourselves.
VII. Players learn to watch the conductor most effectively when they discover that performance improves and enjoyment increases, but telling us to watch has no effect. Demand that we play everything that is written. Don’t necessarily perform passages the same way every time. Make certain that your instructions for us to put pencil marks on our parts are not substitutes for clear conducting, don’t dull the spontaneity, and don’t lead to mechanical performance. Reducing the size of your conducting pattern might get the players’ attention and correct stylistic errors.
VIII. Music is passion. Let us see and feel your emotions; lead us to express emotions in each of our instrumental lines.
IX. A community band is not a school band and not a professional band, yet includes elements of both. When needed, instruction must be offered in a context of respect and dignity. Basic baton techniques are the same for a major symphony or a community band, but the community band conductor has special challenges. Many school procedures are ineffective (other than as placebo). We will quit the band if not satisfied. Reconcile our joy in playing the instrument with your goal of valid musical interpretation.
X. Establish routine procedures to ensure, without speaking, most effective use of time and energies. Motivate us to arrive early and tune individually. Have the room arranged: “A neat room encourages neat playing.” Stay away from the podium until after group tuning. Have a band member, not you, call the rehearsal to order and lead group tuning to a standard pitch.
XI. Make your every motion tell us something; ineffective motion will encourage us to be less than attentive. Your manner in stepping on to the podium establishes relationships between you and the players. Use a podium, and place it for optimum sight lines. Have your stand no higher than your waist.
XII. The way in which a rehearsal begins is a vivid example of the community band conductor’s challenge to treat players with the same respect as granted to professionals, while, at the same time, accommodating the nonprofessionals’ limited experiences and abilities. Do you begin as with a professional organization, knowing that everyone is absolutely prepared for any challenge? Or do your nonprofessionals need a warm-up? In any case, begin with the joy of actual music, not talk and not fundamentals drill.
XIII. If you feel the need to begin with a warm-up, play something that is planned for concert performance, but is well within our abilities. After beginning to play, if errors prevent our enjoyment, stop and make corrections, always trying to focus on elements that we will face in other pieces to be rehearsed. If you believe that the ability level requires drill on fundamentals that many school conductors use in warm-up exercises, they are more effectively done while rehearsing real music, in context of a problem the musicians have encountered and, consequently, see the need for solution in order to get full enjoyment. But, in any case, beware that drill on fundamentals in rehearsal with adults is fraught with potential problems of efficacy and motivation.
XIV. After we have played enough of the first piece to gain an enjoyable musical experience, and the room temperature has stabilized, take about 45 seconds for all players to confirm that their basic instrument lengths are correct. Tune from bottom up. Your telling individuals that they are sharp or flat is counterproductive, and wastes time; instead, give players tasks that focus their attention on hearing “beats,” on tuning unisons and octaves across diverse sections, and on tuning and stressing leading tones, dissonances, and other pitches that create musical meaning.
XV. Your very first motion on the podium, lifting the baton to the position of attention, is more effective than any amount of talk in establishing the relationship between you and us. The lifting motion gets us to focus on you and to sit or stand erect. At the position of attention, the baton shows the dynamic level and the point in the measure where we will begin. If you remember something that must be said, lower the baton.
XVI. Your next motion, the preparatory beat, is the single most important communication between you and us: essential for playing together, gives impetus for expressive performance, avoids unnecessary spoken instruction, invites us to breathe together in tempo and enter together in tempo with proper style, and shows the point in the measure at which we are to begin playing. Except in a special style such as jazz, please never begin by counting out loud “one, two, ready, play,” or by giving any other spoken cues. Any need to explain an entrance or its preparation indicates that your conducting motion is not clear.
XVII. Within passages, preparatory motions save time by eliminating spoken explanations: at a phrase ending; in slow marcato style; changes in dynamics, tempo and style; entrance or prominence of an instrument; cues.
XVIII. Please make certain that we can always see the metrical pattern in your beat, whether in a forthright allegro or flowing largo molto espressivo. Otherwise, we waste time with confusion, losing our places, and/or asking questions. Your conducting motions need to help not only the leading melodic parts, but also those of us who have accompaniment or other lines that might include sustained tones or silence (“rests”).
XIX. While conducting meter, tempo, style, and dynamics so that they are understood by every player, we like for you to show us how each phrase grows in intensity and relaxes, the points of stress and release, and how to conclude one phrase and breathe to begin the next.
XX. Your left hand can be a wonderful time saver and expressive aid if used only to communicate things that are not shown with the baton.
XXI. Clear conducting motions make it unnecessary to speak about how to perform fermate in various situations: tonal intensity, conduct each beat and hold on the last; use your two hands, face and eyes for separate groups; if followed by continued sound with no break, conclude with a smooth motion that prepares the next tone; if followed by a break of no more than a breath, a single motion for release and preparation; if a caesura, one motion for release, then stationary, followed by another motion for preparation.
XXII. Instead of explaining musical structure, rehearse in ways that lead us to learn about it, even if the knowledge is transmitted surreptitiously.
XXIII. On occasions when you do have to talk, please speak clearly, with a well-modulated voice that reaches farthest reaches of the room. If players are too noisy, your speaking louder will be counterproductive (ask yourself if you are causing our inattentiveness) but your speaking softer might solve it. In a related issue, you can save time and increase effectiveness by using incisive vocabulary, not slang words of students and amateurs.
XXIV. While we don’t like for you to talk in place of clear conducting, we do like for you to pace rehearsal so that there are times when we can rest: announcements, organization business, compliments, a little humor.
XXV. If ever you make a mistake, we understand because we, too, are human and can make mistakes. Please simply admit the mistake and go on. But if you try to make us think that you did not err, and you instead try to correct an imaginary error on our part, or if you talk in an attempt to divert attention away from your mistake, you will create animosity, or at least negative amusement, among the players. And, more important, you will waste time.
XXVI. When questions arise about printed wrong notes in the parts, try to avoid talking about them during rehearsal: encourage solutions “by ear” or conference at intermission. Yes, some players enjoy calling attention to themselves.
XXVII. Try a mindset that each rehearsal is the last one before the concert (or is even the concert itself). You will prepare more carefully, set priorities, communicate more efficiently, and we will enjoy more playing time.
XXVIII. Nonverbal communication can inform the players and audience about relationships between conductor and players: eye contact and cue motions establish rapport; audiences like cues; concert dress demonstrates preparation, group unity, and relationships between conductor and players.
XXIX. Conclusion
A. We community band musicians arrive at rehearsal with great enthusiasm to play our instruments and have intimate experience with beautiful music. We do not come to hear even the most eloquent, poetic, erudite or humorous conductor speak. Any time taken away from playing dampens our enthusiasm and makes us impatient, sometimes resentful.
B. Those of us in your band who are conductors, former conductors, would-be conductors, other self-appointed experts, and/or general curmudgeons offer you an exchange: If you keep us busy playing, making beautiful music, we will try to refrain from offering suggestions during rehearsal. An efficient rehearsal will leave no time for us to speak because our mouths will be too busy working as embouchures.
C. If you use our time efficiently by conducting and not talking, band members will get more enjoyment, our performance will improve, our egos will be fed, we will become more enthusiastic, and we will return to future rehearsals having practiced our parts, and prepared to seek more. Our investments of time, abilities and energies will pay magnificent dividends in fulfilling our expectations for band membership—the joy of music.
Copyright 2005
All rights reserved
David C. McCormick
12833 Yacht Club Circle
Fort Myers, Florida 33919 U.S.A.
e-mail: mctuba@attglobal.net
Telephone: (239) 481-7307
Fax: (239) 482-8197