ABOVE AND BEYOND

Composed 2012 Duration 9 Minutes

Orchestration6(pic:afl).3(ca).12(acl)+ebcl+2bcl.2asx+tsx+barsx.3(cbn)/4.6.3+btbn.2+2euph/timp.4perc Availability Hire

Reviews ...it develops into a really fine and rather thrilling work, skilfully scored for the forces available. This is not surprising in that Schwarz is an experienced and distinguished conductor of this type of repertoire. There is a surprisingly thoughtful ending, the woodwind winding the music down over rumbling percussion, with occasional snarls from muted brass. This is a work I’d commend strongly to music directors of wind bands, with the proviso that it’s not only technically pretty demanding, but also requires a very fully ‘staffed’ band. A real find.

Larry Gookin writes

If you are looking for a new 10-minute work of artistic merit, I would suggest that you check out Above and Beyond by Gerard Schwarz. The Seattle Wind Symphony performed the work this past weekend with Maestro Schwarz conducting. I loved preparing/rehearsing the work, and the musicians and audience truly enjoyed it. You can find the Marine Band video of the March 2012 premier on the following website: http://www.aormanagement.com/artists/gerard-schwarz/watch/ Its the second excerpt down. The work is on rental from Schirmer and in my humble opinion deserves many more performances! I believe a Marine Band recording is scheduled for release by Naxos sometime this year. Thanks to Maestro Schwarz for adding a new work to the wind band repertory. I hope you find the composition as engaging as I have.