ARTICLE 3: MUSIC THAT RINGS MY BELL
Or
TODAY’S KITSCH IS TOMORROW’S MASTERPIECE
First appeared in the WASBE Newsletter
Update and revised 16th August

Jim Croft, wisest of eldest statesmen, divides repertoire into “music that rings my bell” - and the other sort, which is as good a way of developing ideas on repertoire as any. I suspect that we tend to accept some music as masterpieces, because there’s nothing else; for instance, if the Beethoven Horn Sonata were one of 20 or 40 classic masterpieces for horn and piano, who would play that rather ordinary little piece

If we are frank, we might think the unthinkable - how musical are many of the masterpieces of the wind band repertoire? The bright primary colours of the ensemble and the dazzling virtuosity of so many of our players can blind us to the emptiness of the music. The hard-edged neo-classical heritage of the mid-century often conspires to encourage bands to make a noise, and composers to pander to what we do most easily.

GOLDMAN ON SCHOENBERG, HINDEMITH & STRAVINSKY

In fact, many of the major wind works of the mid and late century just don’t ring my bell at all, though the better the composer, the more chance the work has of being half decent. Richard Franko Goldman wrote in Musical Quarterly in 1958 a review of the Fennell Mercury 1957 MG50143 recording of the Hindemith, Schoenberg and Stravinsky masterpieces, and uttered what even today must seem heresy ..All band people are grateful to Schoenberg and Hindemith ….it is in a sense ungracious…to wish that they had written better ones…the Hindemith, indeed, sounds very much like a poorly done transcription……no amount of special pleading will ever make the Theme and Variations very interesting. Goldman ends his article full of enthusiasm for the Stravinsky Symphonies of Wind; In contrast to the other two, warm and life-lit, a pleasure to hear, with beautiful ideas and beautiful sounds.

If we jettison these two masterpieces as Emperors without any clothing, what do we put in their place? Dr Donald Hunsberger, who gave us a top twenty list in 1981 which I dutifully programmed over the decade, felt 12 years later when revisiting Manchester that no new works suitable for inclusion had surfaced. If that is true, we are commissioning the wrong composers 

A chance meeting with composer Robin Holloway at a performance of his superb new Concerto for Clarinet and Symphony Orchestra led me back to his work Entrance; Carousing; Embarcation commissioned by an American consortium. Holloway was asked by the commissioning consortium for a Mahlerian work. When he sent it, he was told that it was too long and too difficult! I played it again to my wife, (a viola player it must be admitted), and we agreed that it was full of what we miss in much wind music, lyricism, inventive scoring, wit, drama….well yes, beauty. It is finely scored, emotional, inventive, Mahlerian in scope, a sprawling catch-all giant of a piece…and I played in the first performances in the City of Birmingham SO of Mahler 5 and 6 with Dorati in the sixties. For three days of rehearsal we thought they were mad, trivial, grotesque, too big, then we were captivated, and now Mahler is played by student orchestras and can fill any hall in the world. So taste changes. 

The American works which I tend to programme are those which accentuate the more lyrical side of the wind ensemble; there is plenty of traditionally aggressive music, with the stress on brass and percussion, but I absolutely love the sound world of the early works of Colgrass, Schwantner and Maslanka, three pieces which would grace any symphony orchestra concert.

Colgrass        Winds of Nagual                    22 minutes 
Schwantner    .and the Mountains                11 minutes
Maslanka       A child’s garden of dreams    35 minutes

LOST SONGS

WASBE has over the years provided a platform for some great additions to the repertoire, but works often lost and forgotten. A wonderful piece from the first WASBE Conference in 1981 was Symphony 11 –Lost Songs, by Warren Benson. This surely is our equivalent to Das Lied von der Erde with a magical ending of the greatest beauty, whilst in Schladming, Warren again provided a highspot with The Drums of Summer, again a piece imbued with wit, energy, beauty, and without some of the trivial repetition that disfigures so much wind music. And along with Warren amongst WASBE senior composers strides Karel Husa, whose Music for Prague received an epic performance in Schladming, his Apotheosis in Hamamatsu. My favourite work of his is Les Couleurs Fauves, written for and dedicated to the great John Paynter.

What else rings my bell on the symphonic side? I must declare self-interest; I commissioned three works from Richard Rodney Bennett, and I believe that they are major masterpieces. His scoring is delicate, his structures sure and his imagination runs riot with the colours of Fennell’s Wind Ensemble concept. 

Echoing Julie Andrews, “These are some of my favorite things”:

Bazelon         Midnight Music                                                                 Novello     20 minutes
Bennett         Trumpet Concerto                                                             Novello     20 minutes
Bennett         The Four Seasons                                                             Novello     19 minutes
Bennett         Morning Music                                                                  Novello     17 minutes
Holloway      Entrance; Carousing & Embarcation                                  Boosey      25 minutes
MacMillan     Sowetan Spring                                                                Boosey      12 minutes
Maconchy     Music for Wind & Brass                                                   Chester      10 minutes
Maw             American Games                                                              Faber         23 minutes
Musgrave      Journey through a Japanese Landscape (marimba conc)     Novello     23 minutes
Tippett           Triumph                                                                           Schott        15 minutes
Wengler         Versuche uber einen Marsch                                             Maecenas  20 minutes
Wilby             Sinfonia Sacra                                                                 Chester       18 minutes

We commissioned Morning Music for the Boston WASBE Conference in 1987, and the 1991 WASBE Conference heard premieres of his Four Seasons, also workshops on the Holloway and Maw. The Bazelon and Musgrave I also commissioned, the Wengler was recommended to me by Hans Werner Henze and I am determined to publish it this year (now published in 2004), the Wilby is an exciting almost avant garde commission from Larry Sutherland, MacMillan was premiered by John Paynter at the Glasgow BASBWE, Tippett’s Triumph was another US consortium commission and the Maconchy is just another very beautiful wonderfully constructed work, sadly neglected This repertoire includes several pieces I would recommend to Simon Rattle or any other conductor to be played by orchestras in lieu of the usual nod towards the wind in Mozart Gran Partita, Lincolnshire Posy or Stravinsky or Messiaen. 

MASTERPIECES AT GRADE 4

But what about the good High School Band, the small college band, the Community Band? Must they stick with the 7 – 14 minute rabble-rousing hard-hitting audience-pleaser, or can they find repertoire to extend the emotional responses of audience and performers. This is where I think WASBE has a major part to play. Here is a regrettably short list of large-scale works I have come across which seem to me to be at Grade 3,4 and easy 5 level and have the emotional impact of those above that are mainly Grade 6 

Connor         Tails aus dem Voods Viennoise             Maecenas     18 minutes
Ito                Gloriosa                                                Ongaku         18 minutes
Pütz              Meltdown                                             Mundana       16 minutes

The Connor is quite easy, Grade 3-4, and is the closest students of that calibre can get to playing a sustained work almost Mahlerian in impact. Ito I knew from his excellent Saxophone Concerto and his folk-song potpourri, Festal Scenes, but Gloriosa is a major contribution to the repertoire. Marco Pütz is a saxophone player in Luxembourg, and his music for large band is well worth exploring, and is now happily available from Bronsheim or Mundana

In America, a number of composers are writing for young bands with sensitivity, in no particular order Nelson, Maslanka, Gibson, Camphouse, Ticheli, Mahr, Broege, Boyesen and Holsinger. Add perhaps– who else from Japan, Europe, USA, South America, Canada and Australasia?

Now this ramble led me to wonder whether as we approach our eleventh conference and leave our teen years, could everyone pitch in with information from round the world on what rings or rang their bell in past conferences, or even more important at the CBDNA, NBA, BASBWE, JBA, ABA and CBA conferences which have not yet been reported. 

I suspect that many of those pioneering works by Leslie Bassett or Ross Lee Finney were just too far ahead of the audiences, players and perhaps conductors, and some of the performances I have on tape were very heavy-handed. Are we ready for them now, and the best of the Eastman Wind Ensemble, the National Wind Ensemble Conferences, the commissions Frank Battisti made at Ithaca or the Boudreau commissions. We forget, if we ever knew about them, the works by Jean Morel, surely some of Gunther Schuller’s works should be in the Shattinger record list. Meanwhile, I shall go on exploring the gentler sounds of the repertoire as I slide into old age.

POSTSCRIPT

Following the appearance of this article in the WASBE Newsletter, several conductors wrote in with their own ideas on bell-ringing. Some castigated me for throwing doubts on the worth of the Schoenberg Variations and Hindemith Symphony, others with ideas of additional good large-scale pieces:

Skating on the Sheyenne                             Ross Lee Finney 
Dionysiaques                                              Florent Schmitt
Symphony for Brass and Percussion           Gunther Schuller. 
Symphony in Brass                                     Eric Ewazen. 
Concerto for Flute and Wind Ensemble       Anthony Plog 
Spiel                                                          Ernst Toch
Concerto for Wind Orchestra                     Colin McPhee

CBDNA POSTSCRIPT 1999

Still others wrote with enthusiastic news of the 1999 CBDNA Conference in Texas. The Conference sounded as usual to be a feast of new music and great performances, and several works were mentioned by correspondents. Donald Grantham was clearly the top composer for this year and was described by one correspondent as "hitting to grand slams". (What can he mean? We need a WASBE glossary of contemporary musical terms.) The following were championed for further performances

Chronicles (for trumpet solo) Joseph Turrin
Southern Harmony Donald Grantham
J'ai ete au Bal Donald Grantham
The Wild Rumpus Stephen David Beck . 
Niagara Falls Michael Daugherty


PERSONAL POSTSCIPT 2004

What are human emotions? Not only lyricism, sadness, tragedy, but laughter
                                                                                                         Dmitri Shostakovich


My own quest for a “core” repertoire has led me to search out or commission large scale works which have a clear emotional impact, and recently to develop a personal series of recordings of international repertoire which I consider to be significant yet relatively unknown.

Now available - Volume 1 4949-MCD
UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY WIND ENSEMBLE

Nigel Clarke                 Samurai                                     1995     Maecenas       11.58
Christopher Marshall     L'Homme Armé                         2003     Maecenas      16.20
Kenneth Hesketh          Diaghilev Dances                        2003     Faber             15.07
Jules Strens                  Danse Funambulesque                1930     CeBeDeM      10.06
Christian Lindberg        Concerto for Wind Orchestra     2003     Tarrodi            14.35

Available from Tim Reynish, 62 Moss Lane, Leyland, PR25 4SH, UK, price £10.00,
15 Euros or $15.00, including postage and packing.

Available in 2005 Volume 2 5342-MCD 
UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY WIND ENSEMBLE

Adam Gorb                 Dances from Crete                 2003         Maecenas      19.17 
Magnus Lindberg         Gran Duo                               2000         Boosey         18.36
Laurence Bitensky        Awake, You Sleepers            2002         Composer     15.19
Joaquin Rodrigo           Per la Flor del Lliri Blau         1934          Piles              17.13

REVIEW
INTERNATIONAL WIND BAND/ENSEMBLE REPERTOIRE RECORDING PROJECT
by Frank Battisti

I know of no one who has as much dedication and passion for the development and expansion of an international wind band/ensemble repertoire than Timothy Reynish. During the past 2 decades he has been responsible for commissioning numerous new works from composers throughout the world as well as discovering and bringing recognition to forgotten works through his performances, CD recordings, articles and clinics. Since the advent of WASBE opportunities for making contacts with composers from throughout the world has lead to the development of wind band/ensemble literature which is much more diversified and broader in styles and scope than ever before. 

To this end Tim has recently produced and issued the first two of a planned series of CDs featuring works by international composers. The first two CDs include works by composers from Belgium, Finland, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, UK and USA. I feel confident in saying that many wind band/ensemble conductors will not be familiar with the works on these recordings.

LIVE IN CONCERT WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY WIND ENSEMBLE
VOLUME 1 (4949-MCD) contains music composed between 1930 and 2003. Samurai by Nigel Clark is a sharp-edged virtuoso piece, very energetic and rhythmic. Diaghilev Dances by Kenneth Hesketh is wonderfully impressionistic, elegant and at times, dramatic work – a miniature ballet, Hesketh’s homage to Diaghilev and the music he inspired. Danse Funambulesque by Jules Strens’ inhabits the expressive world of Florent Schmitt’s Dionysiasques. It is scored for the European instrumentation of the Belgian Guides/French Garde Republicaine Bands. Christopher Marshall’s L’homme Armé is based on the 15th century melody of the same name. It is a striking work with varied moods and colors. The Concerto for Winds and Percussion by world trombone virtuoso Christian Lindberg is a fresh, exciting, bold and outgoing work.

LIVE IN CONCERT WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY WIND ENSEMBLE
VOLUME 2 (5342-MCD) includes three works composed between 2000 – 2003 and one composed in 1934. Adam Gorb’s Dances from Crete is an infectious and brilliant work that will delight audiences and challenge players. Magnus Lindberg’s Gran Duo, already performed numerous times, mostly by symphony orchestras – only 4 performances by wind ensembles - is still relatively unknown in wind band/ensemble circles. Scored for the instrumentation used by Stravinsky in his Symphonies of Wind Instruments (plus a bass clarinet) it is a major work by one of the world’s leading composers. The music ranges in scope from large textural sound masses to chamber music like and solo passages. Laurence Bitensky’s Awake, You Sleepers is based on melodies and motives of traditional Jewish chant in which the trumpet soloist plays music that is free feeling and improvisational in style. This is a unique and wonderful addition to the concerto literature for trumpet and wind band/ensemble. Rodrigo’s Per La Flor del Lliri Blau, composed in 1934, is a romantic tone poem in the 19th century tradition. The character of the music encompasses energetic fanfare passages, tender melancholy melodies and large dramatic episodes.

Since the pieces on these CDs were all recorded during live concert performances, they are not always technically perfect. However, Reynish and his players create performances that are musically interesting, expressive and lively. Reynish’s International Wind Band/Ensemble Repertoire Project offers all wind band/ensemble conductors an opportunity to hear works that they might not encounter in their local/national professional environments. 

Recordings of wind band/ensemble music such as found on these CDs would have been impossible 25 years ago. Let us rejoice and listen !!

All CDs in this International Wind Band/Ensemble Repertoire Series are available from Tim Reynish, 62 Moss Lane, Leyland, PR25 4SH, UK, price £10.00, 15 Euros or $15.00 US, including postage and packing. Volume 1 is available now, Volume 2 will follow in 2005.