HOMEPAGE DECEMBER 1st 2008
Tim Reynish discusses the news and views of the world of wind ensemble and band

SEASONAL GREETINGS from the Canford/BASBWE international conducting Class of 2008, which included students from Brazil, England, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Scotland and Switzerland. Details elsewhere of the repertoire for 2009 – why not join us?

BROWSE CANFORD 2009

 
Browse on the panels above for information about upcoming conferences, competitions and association news

NEW FILES UPLOADED
FOUR FILES ON ASPECTS OF REPERTOIRE:
Chris Marshall – ideas on rehearsing L’Homme Armé
Don’t Frighten the Horses – Quality Literature for Ensemble
Wind Repertoire for Orchestral Conductors – no saxophones
Repertoire for Chorus and Wind Orchestra (update)

TIM-POD COMPLETE PERFORMANCES FOR DECEMBER

	Bill Connor Tails aus dem Vood Viennoise (Grade 3 Maecenas)
	Fergal Carroll Winter Dances (Grade 4 Maecenas)
	Stephen McNeff Image in Stone (Grade 6 Maecenas) [2 of 4 movements streamed]
	Adam Gorb Adrenaline City( Grade 6 Studio)

NEWS
2008 British Composer Awards shortlist
2009 NBA/Merrill Jones Composition contest for young composers for young bands
ADAM GORB AT FIFTY
BIRTHDAYS IN 2009
CD re-issue of volume 2 Tim Reynish Repertoire discs
EMILY HOWARD AWARD
GORB BIRTHDAY celebrations in Norway
McNEFF RESIDENCY in Wisconsin
IRELAND                 an elegant website
IMAGE IN STONE      Tim Reynish reviews the most recent RNCM recording
MEXICAN BALLET      seeking European premiere
NEW BOOK ON GRAINGER
PHILHARMONIC WINDS of SINGAPORE on YouTube
Review of Volume 4 by Claude Decugis
REPERTOIRE - SCORES WITH ELECTRONICS A partial listing by Andre Granjo
REPERTOIRE – SCORES WITH ORGAN
SEASONAL GREETINGS
WIND BAND FM

PREMIERES & COMMISSIONS
BRAZIL                    Ultreya by Vicente Moncho
FRANCE                  World premiere by Phillipe Geiss.
JAPAN                    World premiere of work by Steve Bryant
JAPAN                    Yamaha new work by Jun Nagao
NEW ZEALAND         Chris Marshall commission for Amherst Regional High School
SWEDEN                 Two commissions for Christian Lindberg
SWITZERLAND         Three programmes and a world premiere
UK                         Adam Gorb adds a school band work to William Reynish series
USA                       Two Carter Pann Premieres
USA                       Grawemeyer Winner Sebastian Currier wind work premiered
USA                       William Bolcom First Symphony
USA                       NEXUS Percussion Premiere at Dallas
WALES                    The Broken Sea 

SEASONAL GREETINGS
Each year, with our increased knowledge of other nations, I am amazed at the range of celebrations of mid-winter and the variety of names and traditions. This year I learned about Dong Zhi, festivities for the winter solstice in China, so once again it is time to wish everyone, albeit for some belatedly, for some rather early, a very happy Dong Zhi, Diwali, Eid Al-Addha, Sadeh, Saturnalia, Yalda,  Hannukah, Yule, Christmas, Parairvana Day and New Year, whether you are on the beach or by the fire.

BACH SUITES IN THE WHITE HOUSE
It is a hopeful sign for world peace that Barack Obama lists fairly catholic tastes in music on Facebook; he includes amongst his favorites Miles Davis, John Coltrane and the Bach ‘Cello Suites. Let us all hope that he and his colleagues round the world will have the will and integrity to try to sort out the conflicts in Asia, the Middle East and Africa and at the same time address the problems posed by GM crops, by climate change, by poverty and disease, and let us hope that we in the music world can contribute a little to international understanding and accord by added co-operation between the various international and national associations.

As of Mid-November, there is little or no information on the respective association websites about eachother’s conferences, but from the WASBE Newsletter I understand that the Conductors Guild will hold seminars at the WASBE Conference, and NBA plan to hold their conference jointly. Since the first world conference was sponsored by CBDNA, NBA and other associations, this is a welcome return to that spirit of co-operation of 1981. I hope in 2009 that all four associations, and the many others, will begin to share information and enrich our musical lives with information about the incredible wealth of good and sometimes great new music being written. 

WINTER DANCES
Meanwhile, put your browser on the TimPod  for December to hear Fergal Carroll’s Winter Dances, (Grade 4 Maecenas) and perhaps programme them for next year to celebrate Fergal’s birthday, at forty the youngest of our significant birthdays this year. Other works on the timpod this month are two movements of McNeff’s haunting Image in Stone (Grade 6 Maecenas) which gives the title to this month’s record choice, reviewed below, Gorb’s jazzy Adrenaline City (Grade 6 Studio) (I WISH he would drop this delight in 10/8 which is then often syncopated!) and Bill Connor’s Mahlerian Tails aus dem Vood Viennoise (Grade 3, Maecenas)  – why not celebrate Bill’s 60^th birthday next year with a performance. To listen to any of the works on my Timpod, put your browser on the month and navigate with the control.

Have a great holiday 
Tim Reynish 

2008 BRITISH COMPOSER AWARDS SHORTLIST
Three works were chosen for the final of the British Composer Award short list for 2008, two for wind band, by Adam Gorb and Joseph Phibbs, and one for Brass Band by Gavin Higgins. Listen to the shortlisted works, together with an interview with Mark Heron, here (available until 3rd December only, starts 1hr 42mins in).

Adam Gorb - Adrenaline City
Gavin Higgins - A Forest Symphony
Joseph Phibbs - The Spiralling Night

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ADAM GORB AT FIFTY
Celebrations of Adam Gorb’s 50^th birthday continue round Europe. The Staff Band of the Norwegian Army recently programmed two of his more popular works in an attractive programme of light music in Oslo:

Programme
Away Day - Adam Gorb
J'ai eté au bal - Donald Grantham
The Tales of Father Goose - György Ránki, soloist: Marius Hesby
Yiddish Dances - Adam Gorb
Cartoon - Paul Hart

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RESIDENCY AT LAWRENCE UNIVERSITY, WISCONSIN
Stephen McNeff will be artist in residence at Lawrence University during the Spring Semester. The Wind Ensemble conducted by Andrew Mast will include two of his works in their concert on 22^nd May, Ghosts and Image in Stone.

IRERELAND       
Mark Armstrong sends details of a most elegant website, beautifully organised and illustrated, of his arrangements and publications. Browse www.seoltamusic.com

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WIND BAND FM
A radio programme with wind music seven days a week, twenty four hours a day! Its almost unbelievable but its true, and the station will run until the new year when the money runs out unless support can be found. The play list can be accessed on this website or on the Wind Band FM site, which also carries full details about listening. The more of us who listen, the better the chance of survival. Tune in now to

Wind Band FM - Internet radio dedicated to the wind band.

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BIRTHDAYS IN 2009 with selective works

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DEEP SOUL DIVING COMPOSER AWARD
It has recently been announced that Emily Howard has been given a Paul Hamlyn Foundation award of £45,000. Her wind work, Deep Soul Diving, will be published by Maecenas after Christmas.

The Press Release announced:

At £45,000 spread in equal instalments over three years, the Paul Hamlyn Foundation Awards for Visual Arts and Awards for Composers are the most generous in the UK.  They exist to give artists the freedom to develop their creative ideas and to contribute to their personal and professional growth. This commitment is born out by the extraordinary list of more than 70 individual artists that have benefited from the Awards since they were inaugurated in 1994.

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POSTED ON MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL

Philharmonic Winds, Singapore
An Evening with Tim Reynish
"The Philharmonic Winds In Concert - An Evening with Tim Reynish"
Programme
Vranjanka                         Kenneth Hesketh                Duration: 8'15”
*Symphonie Bombastique      Zechariah Goh Toh Chai       Duration: 9'12 “
*In Wartime                        David Del Tredici                Duration: 18'00"
U Trau                             Christopher Marshall Duration: 10'00”
Concertango                     Luis Serrano Alarcon Duration: 11'12"
Dances From Crete             Adam Gorb              Duration: 20'00"

*not streamed for copyright reasons

Conductor: Tim Reynish
Performer: The Philharmonic Winds
Date: 15 June 2008
Location: Esplanade Concert Hall, Singapore

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PREMIERES AND COMMISSIONS

BRAZIL         
PREMIERE FROM VICENTE MONCHO
On September 6^th was premiered “ULTREYA” by Vicente Moncho in Tatuí  (Brazil). The piece was performed by Orquestra de Sopros Brasileira conducted by Darío Sotelo. “Ultreya” (grade 5 and 9 minutes of duration) for Concert Band means the song of the pilgrims on the way to Santiago de Compostela. The piece was composed with a modal language on base of two well-known groups of four sounds both esoteric and mystic meaning. “Ultreya” was dedicated to Darío Sotelo “as companion of musical routes”. The piece, composed on April-May 2008 will be available by Johann Kliment Musik-Verlag.

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FRANCE        
Orchestre d’harmonie du Conservatoire de Strasbourg under Miguel Etchegoncelay gives the world premiere of Kawals Tangenita by Phillipe Geiss on Friday 5^th December.

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JAPAN          
14^th March at Japan Wind Ensemble Conductors Conference, Kurashiki, world premiere of new work by Steve Bryant commissioned by a consortium of 10 Japanese bands led by Mamoru Nakata

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JAPAN          
The Yamaha Symphonic Band played their latest commission, Sing With Sincerity by Jun Nagao, at the finals of the All-Japan Championships in Osaka. They have appointed the distinguished international saxophone soloist, Nobuya Sugawa as their resident conductor.

NEW ZEALAND – CHRIS MARSHALL IN NEW ENGLAND    

Brian Messier, director of bands at Amherst Regional High School, has commissioned a work from Chris Marshall called An Emily Dickinson suite to be premiered in May 2009. This follows a successful performance of Marshall’s first work for wind, Aue commissioned by a WASBE consortium. 

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SWEDEN       
CHRISTIAN LINDBERG COMMISSIONS
In 2003 I commissioned a wonderful post-Zappa Concerto for Wind orchestra by the trombone virtuoso Christian Lindberg. He has two new works commissioned for 2010, but also a number of new works since 2003 which you can hear on his very entertaining website if you browse on publisher Tarrodi.

CL 43: Piece for wind orchestra
The Royal Swedish Army Orchestra has commissioned a 10 minute long piece for winds and percussion to be performed in March 2010

CL 44: An 18 minutes long piece for woodwind quintet
The Nordic Woodwind Quintet has commissioned a piece for them to be delivered in August 2010

CL 4a: Mandrake in the Corner for Trombone and Wind Band (1999)
A study piece that I wrote basically to learn how to compose on a computer. In the middle of the piece it reminded me of one of my heros from childhood, Mandrake the Magician....

CL 4c: Mandrake in the Corner for Two Trombones and Wind Band (2000)

It was my friend Jonas Bylund who asked me to make this version of Mandrake in the Corner for two trombones and wind band, a version that he and I premiered at a trombone festival in Germany...

CL 19b: Behac Munroh for Trumpet Trombone and Wind Band(2002)

The wind band version of this piece was a commission from the Norwegian university, and premiered together with the Norwegian Marine Band during a festival in Horten.

CL 20: Concerto for Winds and Percussion (2003)

The former president of The World Association of Symphony Bands and Ensembles(WASBE) Tim Reynish heard my piece Arabenne, and decided to commission this piece for their biannual festival, held 2002 in Jonkoping, Sweden.

CL32b: BRAINRUBBISH for Wind Orchestra(2007)

Commissioned by the Royal Flemish Orchestra this is an extended version of the piece I wrote for Spanish Brass.

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SWITZERLAND         THREE PROGRAMMES AND A WORLD PREMIERE
News from Christoph Müller of three programmes with his Bläserphilharmonie Zug; the programnmes include a world premiere by Carl Ruetti of a Concerto for Marimba and Wind Ensemble 

January, 30.2009 ‘con Cello obligato’
Emil Hartmann              Serenade
Jaques Ibert                  Concerto for Cello and Wind
Antonin Dvorak              Waldesruhe (transcribed for Cello and Wind)
Antonin Dvorak              Serenade for Wind
Soloist: Jonas Iten Cello (www.jonas-iten.ch)

March, 15.2009 ‚vive la France’
Charles Gounod            Petite Symphonie
Carl Ruetti                    Concerto for Marimba and Wind Ensemble (World Premiere)
Emile Bernard               Divertissement
Soloist : Raphael Christen (www.raphael-christen.ch)
Composer : www.ruettimusic.ch

June, 21.2009 ‘ein Sommernachtstraum’
Mozart                         Overture ‘Die Zauberflöte’ (Blomhert)
Mendelssohn                Suite form Sommernachtstraum (Tarkmann)
Bizet                            Suite from Carmen (Tarkmann) 

UK     
NEW SCHOOL BAND WORK FROM  ADAM GORB
Adam Gorb is writing a new work for school band which will be ready for the Spring 2009. Entitled Tranquility, it is part of the William Reynish memorial series

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USA   
Meadows Wind Ensemble conducted by Jack Delaney gave the world premiere of The Eternal Dance of Life by Eric Ewazen, inspired by Inuit sculptures with Nexus as soloists, November 4^th.

USA   
PREMIERES OF WORKS BY CARTER PANN
Two Premieres by Carter Pann
Concerto Logico, premiered by Michigan Statue University Symphony Band, conductor Kevin Sedatole, Piano soloist Carter Pann
30^th October 2008
Commissioned by the Colorado Wind Ensemble Commissioning Consortium

Premiere of Hold this Boy and Listen Carter Pann, Saturday, December 13, 2008 - 7:30 p.m. Littleton, Colorado
 

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USA   
GROUP DYNAMICS
Recent Grawemeyer winner Sebastian Currier has written a work for Fred Speck and the University of Louisville Wind Ensemble; Group Dynamics was premiered on 13^th November; the scoring is:

2.picc.2.6.Ebcl.Bcl.Ssax.Asax.Tsax.Bsax.2-4.4.3.1-perc(4):I=vib;II=mar/glsp/tamb;III=hi hat/susp.cym/SD/wdbl/tamb/brake drs/guiro/cowbell/flex/ratchet;IV= brake drs/susp.cym/SD/tamb/cowbell /whistle-pft4hands

Sebastian Currier’s music has been called “music with a distinctive voice” by the New York Times and “lyrical, colorful, firmly rooted in tradition but absolutely new” by the Washington Post. A faculty member at Columbia University, Currier lives in Manhattan. He taught at Julliard School of Music from 1992 to 1998 and holds a doctorate in musical arts from Julliard, where he studied with American composer Milton Babbitt.

In 2005, the Berlin Philharmonic presented a full evening of Currier’s chamber music. Last year, he returned to Berlin for the premiere of his work “Broken Minuets,” performed by harpist Marie-Pierre Langlamet and the Oriol Ensemble. His “Microsymph,” described as a large-scale symphony squeezed into only 10 minutes, was commissioned by the American Composer Orchestra and premiered at Carnegie Hall in New York. The piece, recorded by Frankfurt Radio Orchestra, has been performed by the San Francisco Symphony, Gewandhaus Orchestra, Eos Orchestra and National Symphony Orchestra.

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USA   
WILLIAM BOLCOM FIRST SYMPHONY
One of America’s most distinguished composers, recently retired from the University of Michigan, will have his first major work for wind band premiered on February 6, his First Symphony for Band. It will be performed by the University of Michigan Band, conducted by Michael Haithcock

Named 2007 Composer of the Year by Musical America, and honored with multiple Grammy Awards for his ground-breaking setting of Blake’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience, William Bolcom is a composer of cabaret songs, concertos, sonatas, operas, symphonies and much more.  He was awarded the 1988 Pulitzer Prize in Music for his Twelve New Etudes for piano.

In February 2008 his Eighth Symphony was premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Chorus conducted by James Levine in Boston, MA and Carnegie Hall/New York. Within the same month the Guarneri and Johannes String Quartets premiered Bolcom's Octet:  Double Quartet.  Other recent premieres:  Ballade in January 2008 by pianist Ursula Oppens; Lucrezia, a one-act comic opera for 5 singers and 2 pianists, in March 2008 by New York Festival of Song; Four Piedmont Choruses in May 2008 by the Piedmont Chamber Singers; and A Song for St. Cecilia's Day in June 2008 at the University of Chicago.

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WALES The Wind Ensemble of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama gave the world premiere of my latest commission, The Broken Sea by Christopher Painter, on 27^th November, 2008. This is a one movement work, falling into five sections, of great intensity; a more complete review will appear in the January Homepage. 

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2009 NINTH BIENNIAL NBA/MERRILL JONES MEMORIAL
YOUNG COMPOSERS BAND COMPOSITION CONTEST 
FOR GRADE III/IV CONCERT BAND
Who May Enter: Anyone 40 years of age or younger (birthdate on or after November 1, 1969)
Requirements: A work for concert band with no restrictions as to style or form.
Compositions must be for GRADE III/IV CONCERT BAND and must not exceed 8 minutes in length.

Entries must be the original and unpublished concert band work of the composer. Compositions under rental contract from a music publisher CANNOT be submitted

Entry Materials: Full score and compact disc recording of specified instrumentation.
Award: $2,000
Entry Deadline: November 1, 2009
Entry Forms and Information: E-mail: wickes@lsu.edu or write to

Frank B. Wickes
Director of Bands
292 Band Hall
Louisiana State University
Baton Rouge, LA 70803
Attn: NBA/Merrill Jones Composition Contest

More information on NBA Website

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CANFORD/BASBWE INTERNATIONAL Conducting  Course
The course is for wind band conductors at the intermediate and advanced levels. Up to twenty-five students will be accepted as "active" participants working from an extensive repertoire list.  Observers are also encouraged and will be fully involved in general technique sessions, discussions and playing in the class ensemble, but they will only conduct at the discretion of the tutors.

The class will explore conducting techniques, score preparation, rehearsal and training skills. A CD and score library will be available for reference and special emphasis will be placed on extending the knowledge of repertoire at all levels. A DVD recorder will be used to analyse technical requirements and development and all participants will have the opportunity to continually review their work during the course, and to take away a DVD at the end of the week. The course will run concurrently with the Symphonic Wind Orchestra and there will be close liaison between the two. All participants should bring with them any instruments they play, in order to accommodate ensemble work within the class. (If for any reason you unable to bring your instrument(s), please let the summer school office know when you enrol.)

Binney                    Shaftoe’s Hoedown             Maecenas
Carroll                    Winter Dances                    Maecenas
Ellerby                    Paris Sketches                   Maecenas
Gorb                      Sunrise and Safari              Maecenas
Holst                      Suite in Eb                        Boosey
McNeff                   Wasteland Wind Music 2       Maecenas
Mendelssohn            Overture for Winds             Baerenreiter
Strauss                   Serenade, opus 7               Universal
Stravinsky               Octet                               Boosey
Toch                       Spiel                                Schott

Symphonic Wind Orchestra
The Symphonic Wind Orchestra is designed for experienced amateurs and students to play and study significant repertoire for Wind Orchestra and Wind Ensemble. A regular feature of the course will be chamber music as well as wind ensemble playing. Some of the repertoire will be studied in depth, the remainder in repertoire sessions.

Wind Orchestra
Ellerby                    Paris Sketches                  
Gorb                      Dances from Crete            
Hindemith                Symphony in Bb                         
Holst                      Suite in Eb                       
McNeff                   Wasteland Wind Music        
McNeff                   Clarinet Concerto                 
Mendelssohn            Overture for Winds, opus 24  
Serrano Alarcón       Concertango                       
Strauss                   Serenade, opus 7              
Sparke                   Norfolk Dances       
                   
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RE-ISSUE OF VOLUME 2 OF TIM REYNISH REPERTOIRE RECORDS
Mark Custom records will release later this Autumn volume 2 of the University of Kentucky Wind Ensemble performances; complete list below of repertoire series. 

TIMOTHY REYNISH – INTERNATIONAL REPERTOIRE – volume 4
Ithaca College Wind Ensemble – direction: Timothy Reynish
Références: MARK – 6804 MCD
Disponible chez Mark Records – 10815 Bodine Road – Clarence NY 1403.0406 USA

Site: www.markcustom.com

Review by Claude Decusgis of Volume 4 :
Cet enregistrement est l’occasion idéale pour rendre un hommage appuyé à mon ami, le chef d’orchestre anglais Timothy Reynish pour son action exemplaire en faveur des orchestres d’harmonie Les circonstances dramatiques du décès de son troisième fils William l’ont décidé, en accord avec son épouse Hilary, à honorer à leur manière la mémoire de ce fils adoré. Ainsi, ils ont passé et financé de nombreuses commandes –plus de vingt à ce jour- à des compositeurs, surtout britanniques, capables de produire des pièces de qualité haut de gamme, constituant ainsi une exceptionnelle bibliothèque à l’usage de tous.

Et ces pièces, Tim, en excellent directeur qu’il est, se charge de les faire connaitre et de les enregistrer. C’est encore le cas ici avec ce disque enregistré en concert, en 2006, par l’Ithaca College Wind Ensemble, magnifique formation de 50 musiciens, seulement, puisque c’est la formule du wind ensemble (ensemble à vent).

Dans ce programme, on retrouve, off course, les commandes de Tim et Hilary. L’HOMME ARME et RESONANCE de Christophe MARSHALL (1956) et DANCES FROM CRETE d’Adam GORB (1958). En complément, on retrouve également IMPROVISATIONS-RYTHMS du Grec Andreas MAKRIS (1930), REFLECTIONS ON A 16th CENTURY TIME de Richard RODNEY-BENNETT (1936), basée sur une chanson populaire française du 16° siècle et MARSCH du Luxembourgeois Marcel WENGLER (1945).

Au travers la musique, c’est un exceptionnel exemple d’amour que nous donne Tim à la tête du Ithaca College, avec un résultat artistique de très haut niveau.

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FROM MARK CUSTOM RECORDS or from Tim Reynish   timreynish@tiscali.co.uk
£10 or $15.00 including postage

VOL 1 - UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY WIND ENSEMBLE  4949-MCD

VOL 2 - UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY WIND ENSEMBLE  5347-MCD

 VOL 3 - ITHACA COLLEGE SYMPHONIC BAND 6733-MCD

VOL 4 - ITHACA COLLEGE WIND ENSEMBLE 6804-MCD

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RECORDING OF THE MONTH
Image in stone         Cameo 2077
British Wind Series Volume 3          Campion Records www.dimusic.co.uk
The Wind Music of Stephen McNeff
CD Available from the RNCM - contact ian.duckworth@rncm.ac.uk and soon on ITunes

Image in Stone for Mezzo Soprano and Wind Ensemble
Clarinet Concerto
Wasteland Wind Music

Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra
Conductor Mark Heron
Mezzo Soprano Carolina Krogius
Clarinet Linda Merrick

It is hard to write objectively about a recording of three works with which one is closely involved, but by any criteria this is an outstanding disc. Wasteland Wind Music I commissioned some time ago, I gave the American premiere of the Clarinet Concerto in Fredonia last Fall, and Image in Stone is one of my most recent commissions in memory of my third son. The sleeve sets the standard, with a cover of a 5^th century BC marble grave stele from the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the brilliant sleeve notes by Giles Easterbrook include a huge amount of fascinating information about Stephen McNeff, the British wind scene and the music. Soloists, orchestra and conductor are all equally fine, and this is a CD to relish and buy for a colleague’s Christmas stocking.

Born in Belfast, McNeff grew up in Swansea, home of Dylan Thomas, Daniel Jones, Ceri Richard, cultural hotbed and centre of the whole dynamic mid-century Welsh arts scene. Creativity was in the air for those receptive to it, it was here that be became involved in local music-making that stands him in good stead today. Studies were at the Royal Academy of Music with Simon Harris, Leighton Lucas, Noel Cox and others (he shared a conducting class with Simon Rattle) and postgraduate research at the Drama Department at Exeter University, becoming caught up in student plays and films (also student politics, though not as a composer!) that fuelled his passion and career ambitions. After a job with a stage company in Bristol he forced his way into the profession the hard way with work-shopping and hands-on involvement at every level to establish himself in the theatre and opera world. .Success duly and deservedly came, especially in the realm of opera and theatre music, (Royal Opera House, Opera North, Lyric Hammersmith, Unicorn Theatre) but he covers most genres with ease, and his time as Composer in Residence with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra has led to a number of high-profile premieres.

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IMAGE IN STONE
Back in 2001 when Hilary and I placed our first commission with Matthew Taylor in memory of our third son William, we little thought that this was the beginning of more than twenty major works for the medium, a number of them recorded and performed world wide.  Many of them, like Gorb’s Dances of Crete, Marshall’s L’Homme Armée and Resonance,  or Hesketh’s Vranjanka, celebrate William’s zest for life; Stephen McNeff with his background in theatre and opera, turned to poetry, a Greek tomb inscription, a dirge by John Donne, and two marvellous poems by Rosetti and Walt Whitman, each a minor dramatic scena of great intensity.

Giles Easterbrook writes brilliantly and perceptively in the sleeve notes:

Given his background, it’s not surprising he was drawn to combine his old love and his new, singer and wind. From the first bar we know that Image in Stone is the work of someone utterly at home in both worlds and is a piece with personal importance to its composer. It speaks eloquently, from the heart and with the good stage-composers’s ability to stand slightly back; you can’t express emotion clearly if it engulfs you.

The performance by Carolina Krogius and Mark Heron is outstanding. Her words are wonderfully enunciated (why are foreign singers so good at singing English?) and Mark realises every moment of the drama of these songs. He and his young players immediately capture the sparking fanfare qualities of the first song, the heart-rending stillness of the passacaglia setting of John Donne, the simple lyricism of the Rosetti and the Mahlerian serenity of the final setting of Walt Whitman. They are matched by the soloist, whose rich mature voice is ideal for the range of these songs.  

Mark Heron conducted a preview performance of the Clarinet Concerto, with Linda Merrick in Finland, before the official dual premieres in Southwark conducted by Robert Bridges and Warrington conducted by Mark himself. His accompaniment on this CD is exemplary, with excellent balance and first-rate ensemble, matching up to the very experienced soloist. McNeff has a knack of writing quite memorable lyrical music which still contrives to be contemporary in feel, and Linda Merrick catches the alternating drama, quirkiness and poetry of this very romantic score, meeting the technical demands with some ease.

Wasteland Wind Music I have never conducted nor really got to know, this is a major symphonic score, rich in widely disparate episodes. Giles Easterbrook describes it as something between a suite and a symphony, perhaps a prelude and three symphonic dances, and he makes reference to Malcolm Arnold, Charles Ives, Bax, a bluesy waltz, Hammer horror chords….. but Mark Heron makes this rich score hang together admirably, and his youthful wind orchestra play it with excitement and zest. Not as immediate in its appeal as the other two works, Wasteland Wind Music is going to gather an increasing number of devotees.

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MEXICO        
Leroy Osman’s ballet The Garden of Earthly Delights, can be viewed on YouTube. Scored for wind band, it was premiered in Xalapa, Mexico, it is published by RBC Music of San Antonio and is now awaiting a premiere in Europe.  Contact Leroy Osman for more information: Leroy:osman@gmail.com

Volume 4 Wind Band/Ensemble Anthology:
FOLK SONGS & DANCES IN LINCOLNSHIRE POSY by Percy Grainger.
Includes:
Complete Folk Songs for singing
Historical and Interpretative Notes
Compact Disc recording of Old Lincolnshire Folksingers, Grainger speaking, singing and playing, and Modern Folksingers

Editor Rober J Garafalo, available from WHIRLWIND MUSIC

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ELECTRONICS
Andre Granjo of Portugal is looking into wind ensemble scores with electronics. He circulated every member of CBDNA and writes of his research:

After receiving a dozen answers and a couple of hours of research over the web I came to this List:

All the Bells and Whistles - Jeffrey Haas (wind ensemble and synched CD)LUDWIG
Armageddon – Henk Badings (soprano, winds, tape, percussion) PETERS 1968
Ascension - James Mobberley (wind ensemble with electroacoustic music) 1988
Augenblick - Christopher Stark
Concerto for Wind Ensemble, Gamelan, and Electronics - Spencer Topel 2007
Deep in the Vaults of Earth - Stephen Montague (Band and CD) UMP 2001
Ecstatic Waters – Steven Bryant (?) UNKNOWN 2008
Fog Tropes – Ingram Marshall (6 brass and CD) (www.ingrammarshall.com)
Lost in the Funhouse - Jeffrey Haas (wind ensemble and CD)LUDWIG (grade 5)
Magnum Ignotum - Giya Kancheli (1222/2000,cb and tape) SIKORSKI  
Metamorphoses - Edward Gregson (4(2pic)33.bcl.2/441/timp 5perc/pf/db/electronics) NOVELLO(grade 5)
Metropolis" - Thomas Miller (4 movements) (wind ensemble, electronic track & film)
Quartets - Bo Nilsson (SATB voice, wind ensemble, percussion and tape) PETERS
Stargazing – Donald Erb (wind band and tape) THEODORE 1969
Spectrum – Herbert Bielana (wind band with tape) SHAWNEE 1967
Suite for Brass Quintet and Wind Orchestra - Zbigniew Pniewski PETERS
Symphony #5 - Joseph Wilcox Jenkins (Wind band with synth)
The Big Apple - Johann de Meij (band +recorded sounds) AMSTEL/de Haske 1993
The hunchback of Notre Dame - Thomas Miller (wind ensemble, electronics + film
Voices of Water and Spirit - Craig Naylor (band and recorded sounds)

Several works by Stephen Melillo make use of synth sounds

Although this is far from being a very complete it does say a lot about the wind band/ensemble adaptability!

Thanks to all contributors
Andre Granjo
PhD Student University of Coimbra - Portugal
Contact email andregranjo@gmail.com

INDEX

WIND BAND WITH ORGAN
Alleluia! Laudamus Te - Alfred Reed
Annunciations for Organ, Brass Quintet and Wind Orchestra - Einojuhani Rautavaara
Dunhuang Fantasy (2000) for organ and wind ensemble - Chen Yi
Finale to Symphony No. 3 in C - (Saint-Saens/Slocum)
Gran Choeur Dialogue - Gigot/Olson
Kammermusik No. 7, Op 46 (1928) for Organ and chamber winds -  Hindemith
Laudibus in Sanctis    Philip Wilby (Music Sales)
Meditations on an Ancient Scottish Hymn-Tune -  Robert Jager
Pebble Beach Sojourn - Ron Nelson
Polka and Fugue from "Schwanda" - Weinberger
Praise the Lord with Drums and Cymbals - Sigfried Karg-Elert
Symphony no 3 brass, organ timps - Kabelac, Miloslav (1908-1979)     
Symphony no 4        Maslanka
The Power of Rome & The Christian Heart - Grainger
Tune from County Derry (later version) - Percy Grainger    

There is a CD of Fred Fennell and the Dallas Wind Symphony called Pomp and Pipes that is all organ and wind music. Excellent music by Reed, Nelson and Weinberger among others. It's a place to start anyway.

Jennifer Greene