Not Quite The Core Repertoire 2006

Posted July 2006, revised August 2010

Most of the correspondence I receive is from conductors asking my views on repertoire. As a German colleague once wrote, "One man's meat is another man's poison", and so my website has been developed mainly to give conductors an idea of the sort of repertoire I enjoy programming and conducting, and sometimes why.

Commitment - Exposure - Risk

Some time ago the late Warren Benson discussed "Aesthetic Criteria for Selecting an International Repertoire", and proposed three very personal issues, commitment, exposure and risk.

Sooner or later, we have to take the responsibility in our own hands for the progress of WASBE, individually. It's not an international conscience that we're talking about. We're talking about individuals and, when we all do that, there's going to be a glow... I don't want WASBE to turn into a dispensary where people come every two years to get lists that they can go home and file and forget about and do the same old stuff they've been doing before.

As usual he was right, but the problem is that of course few dare to put their head above the parapet, and too often students are loaded with lists of that same old stuff without reference to developments of the past quarter of a century.

I still refer frequently to the repertoire lists put together in the 70's and 80's by H Robert Reynolds, Eugene Miraglio Corporon and others, and to the 1,000 selected international works by Felix Hauswirth. Another very complete listing is the doctoral work by Jay Gilbert, 1,158 pieces, considered by twenty evaluators. In 1981, Donald Hunsberger gave a lecture in Manchester at the 1981 Conference outlining what he considered then to be the major works for wind, the basis of a good library.

Core Repertoire List 1981 By Donald Hunsberger

Benson, Warren The Leaves are Falling
Copland, Aaron Outdoor Overture
Dahl, Ingolf Sinfonietta
Dvorak, Anton Serenade in D Minor
Grainger, Percy Lincolnshire Posy
Hanson, Howard Chorale and Alleluia
Hindemith, Paul Symphony in Bb
Holst, Gustav Hammersmith
Menin, Peter Canzona
Messiaen, Olivier Et Exspecto Resurectionem Mortuorum
Mozart, Wolfgang Serenade in Bb
Persichetti, Vincent Symphony no 6
Reed, H. Owen La Fiesta Mexicana
Schoenberg, Arnold Theme and Variations
Strauss, Richard Serenade in Eb
Stravinsky, Igor Symphony of Wind Instruments

Frank Battisti Supplementary List

Twenty years later, Frank Battisti sent me a supplementary list of more contemporary works

Adams, John (arr Odum) Short Ride in a Fast Machine (1986)
Ball, Michael Omaggio (1987)
Bedford, David Sun Paints Rainbows over the Vast waves (1982)
Bennett, Richard Rodney Morning Music (1986)
Bennett, Richard Rodney The Four Seasons (1991)
Bennett, Richard Rodney Concerto for Trumpet and Wind Orchestra (1993)
Benshoof, Kim Out and Back Again (1995)
Benson, Warren Shadow Wood (revised 1991)
Benson, Warren Symphony 11 "Lost Songs" (1983)
Cage, John Fifty-Eight (1992)
Colgrass, Michael Winds of Nagual (1985)
Colgrass, Michael Arctic Dreams (1991)
Colgrass, Michael Urban Requiem (1996)
Crosse, Gordon Concerto da Camera, Op. 6 (1962)
Duffy, Thomas Gnomon (1995
Fletcher, Alan An American Song (1999)
Harbison, John Music for 18 Winds (1985)
Harbison, John Three City Blocks (1993)
Harbison, John Olympic Dances (1996)
Husa, Karel Concerto for Wind Ensemble (1982)
Husa, Karel Les Couleurs Fauves (1995)
Kraft., William Concerto for 4 Solo Percussion Wind Ensemble (1995)
McCabe, John Canyons (1991)
Maslanka, David A Child's Garden of Dreams (1981)
Maslanka, David Concerto for Marimba and Winds (1990)
Maw, Nicholas American Games (1991)
Nelson, Ron Te Deum Laudamus (1988)
Nelson, Ron Passacaglia (Homage to B-A-C-H) (1992)
Rands, Bernard Ceremonial (1992)
Rands, Bernard Unending Lightening (2001
Schuller, Gunther On Winged Flight: A Divertimento for Band (1989)
Schuller, Gunther Symphony No. 3 in "Praise of Winds" (1981)
Stravinsky, Igor Symphonies of Wind Instruments (1920)
Stucky, Steven Voyages (for cello and wind orchestra) (1984)
Stucky, Steven Funeral Music for Queen Mary (1992)
Syler, James Minton's Playhouse (1994)
Ticheli, Frank Postcard (1991)
Ticheli, Frank Blue Shades (1997)
Tippett, Michael Triumph (1993)
Wilby, Philip Firestar (1983)
Wilson, Dana Piece of Mind (1987

Back in 2006 I had been investigating the latest core repertoire list in the Journal of Band Research, lists at CBDNA regional conference, on websites and in schools of music, and very often it is clear that WASBE has had very little influence on programming; the majority of these lists contain nothing new from England, Scandinavia, Europe or from Japan. 180 more or less significant works for wind ensemble and band are listed below, mostly works NOT in core repertoire lists, though some might be given that accolade eventually.

Rncm Repertoire - Not The "Core"

Below I list works which I have programmed or conducted since 1981, mostly at the Royal Northern College of Music, with references to by Norman Smith's Program Notes for Band for biography and programme notes where available; most of these works have a programme note on my website.

NB Works with a page number in column five are in Norman Smith's book Band Programme Notes.

Composer Dates Work Publisher Smith Page
William Alwyn 1905-1985 Flute Concerto Legnick
Malcolm Arnold b.1921 Water Music Novello
Michael Ball b.1946 Omaggio Novello 32
Saxophone Concerto Maecenas 32
Irwin Bazelon 1922-95 Midnight Music Novello
David Bedford b.1937 Ronde for Isolde Novello 44
Sea & Sky & Golden Hill
Sun Paints Rainbows Novello 44
Praeludium Novello
Richard Rodney Bennett b.1936 Morning Music Novello 52
Four Seasons Novello
Trumpet Concerto Novello
Reflections on a 16thCentury Tune for wind decet Novello
Niels Vigo Bentzon b.1919 Concerto for Percussion Hansen
Michael Berkeley b.1948 Shooting Stars OUP
Slow Dawn OUP
Judith Bingham b.1952 Bright Spirit Maecenas
Three American Icons Maecenas
Laurence Bitensky Awake, You Sleepers Ms
Boris Blacher 1903-1975 Divertimento B&H
Derek Bourgeois b.1941 Diversions Vanderbeek 79
Serenade G Brand 80
Sinfonietta G Brand 80
Symphony for William HaFaBra
Symphony of Winds HaFaBra
John Buckley b.1951 Where the Wind Blows ms
Martin Butler b.1960 Still Breathing OUP
Arthur Butterworth b.1923 Borean Suite - Tundra Vanderbeek
Eugene Bozza 1905-1991 Children's Overture Peters
Frank Bridge 1879-1941 Pageant of London Faber
Fergal Carroll b.1969 Song of Lir Maecenas
John Casken b.1949 Distant Variations Schott
Nigel Clarke b. 1960 Samurai Maecenas 129
Michael Colgrass b.1932 Dream Dancer Carl Fischer
Bill Connor b.1949 Tails aus dem Voods Viennoise Maecenas
Gordon Crosse b.1937 Ariadne OUP
Quiet OUP
Martin Dalby b.1942 A Plain Man's Hammer Novello
Flight Dreaming Novello
Stephen Dodgson b.1924 Capriccio Concertante Wicks
Giles Easterbrook b.1949 Partial Eclipse ms
Martin Ellerby b.1957 New World Dances Studio
Paris Sketches Maecenas 191
Venetian Spells Studio
David Ellis b.1933 Fantasia Ms
Elena Firsova b.1950 Captivity Ms
Peter Racine Fricker 1920-1990 Sinfonia; In memoriam Benjamin Britten Maecenas
John Gardner b.1917 English Dance Suite OUP
Anthony Gilbert b.1934 Dream Carousels Schott
Unrise York
Bernard Gilmore b.1939 Five Folk Songs Maecenas
Alexander Goehr b.1932 Thee Pieces from Arden Must Die
Adam Gorb b.1958 Awayday Maecenas
Dances from Crete Maecenas
Downtown Diversions Trombone & Wind O Maecenas
Metropolis Maecenas 239
Yiddish Dances Maecenas
Symphony no 1 in C Maecenas
Bridgewater Breeze Maecenas
Elements for Percussion & Wind Orchestra Maecenas
Farewell Maecenas
War of the Worlds Maecenas
Philip Grange b.1956 Concerto for Clarinet Maecenas
Edward Gregson b.1945 Tuba Concerto Novello
Celebration Maecenas 253
Festivo Novello 253
Metamorphoses Novello 253
Missa Brevis Pacem Novello
Piano Concerto Maecenas
Friedrich Gulda 1930-2000 Concerto for Cello
Daron Hagen b.1961 Overture Bandanna Presser
Iain Hamilton 1922-2000 Overture 1912 UE
Edward Harper b.1941 Double Variations for Oboe, Bassoon and Ensemble OUP
Derek Healey b.1936 Triptych Ms
Kenneth Hesketh b.1968 Danceries Faber
Masque Faber
The Cloud of Unknowing Schott
Vranjanka Faber
Diaghilev Dances Faber
Alun Hoddinott b.1929 Piano Concerto No 1 OUP
Ritornelli for Trombone & Ensemble OUP
Welsh Airs and Dances Wicks
Robin Holloway b.1943 Entrance; Carousing; Embarcation B&H
Joseph Horovitz b.1926 Bacchus on Blue Ridge Molenaar 300
Karel Husa b.1921 Music for Prague AMP 311
Concerto for Trumpet & WO AMP
Tristan Keuris 1946-1996 Catena Novello
Aram Khachaturian 1903-1978 Battle of Stalingrad B&H
Oliver Knussen b.1952 Choral Faber
Constant Lamber 1905-1951 Piano Concerto OUP
Mr Bear Squash you all Flat Maecenas
Suite from Tiresias Maecenas
Kamillo Lendvay b.1928 Concertino for Piano EMB
Christian Lindberg Concerto for Wind O Tarrodi
Magnus Lindberg b.1958 Gran Duo B&H
James MacMillan b.1959 Sowetan Spring B&H
Elizabeth Maconchy 1907-1994 Music for Wind and Brass Chester Music sales 397
Nicholas Maw b.1935 American Games Faber 412
Roger Marsh b. 1949 Heathcote's Inferno Maecenas
Christopher Marshall b. 1956 Aue Maecenas
L'Homme Armé Maecenas
Resonance Maecenas
Colin Matthews 1946 Quatrain Faber
Toccata Meccanica Faber
John McCabe b.1939 Canyons Novello 417
Images Novello
Symphony for 10 Wind Novello
Colin McPhee 1900-1964 Concerto for Wind Orchestra Peters
John McLeod b.1934 A Dramatic Landscape Ms
Anthony Milner Symphony for Wind Band Novello
Akira Miyoshi b.1933 Secret Rites Maecenas
Dominic Muldowney b.1952 Suite 1984 Ms
Dance Suite Ariel
Stephen McNeff Ghosts Maecenas
Image in Stone Maecenas
Wasteland 1 Maecenas
Wasteland 11 Maecenas
Thea Musgrave b. 1928 Journey through a Japanese Landscape Novello
Buxton Orr 1924-1997 John Gay Suite Novello
Willem van Otterloo 1907-1978 Symphonietta Donemus
Paul Patterson b. 1947 The Mighty Voice Studio
Geoffrey Poole b.1949 Sailing with Archangels Maecenas
Priaulx Rainier 1903-1986 Ploermel Ms
Gyorgy Ranki 1907-1992 Suite from King Pomade Ms
Alan Ridout 1934-1996 C3.3 Ms
Joaquin Rodrigo 1901-1999 Per la Flor del Lliri Blau Piles
Hilding Rosenberg 1892-1985 Symphony Hansen
Edwin Roxburgh b. 1937 Time's Harvest Maecenas
Aulis Sallinen b. 1935 The Palace Rhapsody Novello
Camille Saint-Saens 1935-1921 Orient et Occident Maecenas
Robert Saxton b.1953 Ring, Time
Gunther Schuller Eine Kleine Posaunemusik
Ole Schmidt b. 1928 Hommage a Stravinsky Ms
Erwin Schulhoff 1894-1942 Concerto for String Quartet Schott
Kurt Schwertsik b.1935 Instant Music (solo flute) B&H
Nikos Skalkottas 1904-1949 Greek Dances Margun
Ronald Stevenson b. 1928 Corroborree for Grainger Ms
Jules Strens 1925-1971 Danse Funambulesque CeBeDeM
Matthew Taylor b.1964 Blasket Dances Maecenas
Michael Tippett b.1905 Mosaic Schott
Triumph Schott
Ernst Toch 1887-1964 Spiel Schott 592
Ernest Tomlinson b. 1935 Suite of English Dances Novello
Cedric Thorpe Davie 1913-1983 Variations & Fugue on "The wee cooper of Fife" ms
Marcel Wengler b. 1946 Versuche uber einen Marsch Maecenas
Svend Westergaard 1922-1988 Varianti Sinfonische Hansen
Philip Wilby b.1949 Catcher of Shadows Novello 640
Concertino Pastorale Maecenas
Firestar Novello 640
Laudibus in Sanctis Novello
Passion for our Time Maecenas
Sinfonia Sacra Novello 640
Guy Woolfenden b. 1937 Gallimaufry Ariel 654
Illyrian Dances Ariel 654
Mockbeggar Variations Ariel
S.P.Q.R Ariel

25 Years Of Programmes At The RNCM

In the early days of WASBE, much effort was made to try to build a list of "core repertoire". Regularly Frank Battisti would send a chosen few a list of works, which we had to annotate as recommended highly, may be included or not known. We also tried to set up an international library, and many publishers sent scores in to Frank Byrne. I am not sure where either those lists or the library might be. There is however an international library set up partly through the good offices of WASBE President Bert Aalders, and you can access it at CDMC

A Band Repertoire Has Emerged

With the advent of computers and the web, all that early research is perhaps in any case redundant; what we need to access to information without anyone dictating taste. However, the recent edition of Journal of Band Research published by our colleagues in the ABA replicates the study by the late Karl Holvik of programmes over a period of five years from 78 members of CBDNA. This latest study took as its base programmes appearing in five years of the CBDNAReports, thus limiting its results to concerts offered by many smaller schools, perhaps not a representative sample.
This led me to re-open my own files on repertoire. For many years I have advocated that we as a profession take as our repertoire base Program Notes for Band by Norman R Smith, one mans very catholic view of a basic repertoire of 1600 works at the turn of the century. We should then supplement this listing with specialist catalogues, by country and by genre, adding premieres perhaps every two years.
I would add two books essential to any library interested in giving an international perspective to repertoire:
Felix Hauswirth 1000 selected works for wind orchestra and wind ensembles (Emil Ruh, 1998)
Felix Hauswirth 333 easier selected works for less experienced bands (Emil Ruh, 2000)
Works Discussed Recently On My Website

Aulio, Maxime Gulliver's Travels Aug 2005
Beurden, Bernard van Concerto for Fanfare Orchestra Aug 2005
Bourgeois, Derek Symphony of Winds Sept 2005
Brubeck, Chris Threshold of Liberty Spring 2006
Cesarini, Franco Solemnitas Spring 2006
Chen, Dan Five Sketches Aug 2005
Coleman, Chris A Jazz Funeral Aug 2005
Corigliano, John Symphony no 3, Circus Maximus April 2006
Dagherty, Michael Firecracker for oboe and ensemble April 2006
Daugherty, Michael Brooklyn Bridge for clarinet and band April 2006
Dubroovay, Laszlo Ballet Suite Spring 2006
Goh Toh Chai Sang Nila for chorus and band Aug 2005
Haren, Daron Bandanna April 2006
Hesketh, Kenneth Cloud of Unknowing June 2005
Hill, Adrian Toccata Singapura Aug 2005
Lindroth, Scott Spin Cycle April 2006
Mackey, John Turbine Spring 2006
Mackey, John Strange Humours Spring 2006
Mackey, John Sarsaprilla Spring 2006
Man, Lo Hau Conversing with the Stars for 2 horns Aug 2005
Maslanka, David Desert Roads for clarinet and ensemble April 2006
Mertens, Hardy Prayer Spring 2006
Miura, Hideaki Salty Music Aug 2005
Prokofiev, Sergei Piano Concerto no 3 arr Patterson Spring 2006
Pütz, Marco Improvisations and Fugato Aug 2005
Rauber, Francois Le Quatorze Juilliet, brass quintet & band April 2006
Scott, Andy Dark Raindrops for 2 saxophones & band Dec 2006
Speck, Fred Kizuma Aug 2005
Syler, James Minton's Playhouse Aug 2005
Theuer, Britt Animal Rights April 2006
Waespi, Oliver Symphonic Variations Aug 2005
Whitacre, Eric The logic of all my dreams Spring 2006
Whitacre, Eric Lux Aurumque Spring 2006
Zabel, Frank Picturers of Imaginary Landscapes Sept 2005
Zabel, Frank Sinfonische Variationen - Hommage to Prokofiev Sept 2005

Anyone interested in how my mind works, and what pieces of music strike me as significant, can look in the news archive section since Spring 2006. You will quickly be able to sense my enthusiasms.