Symphonies of Winds: A Workout for Winds and Brass

Check out this very interesting article from Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times reviewing a recent concert presented by Jonathan Nott and the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra at Lincoln Center.

The ensemble performed Stravinsky's Symphonies of Wind Instruments, which UMWO will be performing on our November 4th concert. In Tommasini's view, the choice to add this incredible piece to the program might have been a misstep, partly because of the quick-paced nature of the festival and limited rehearsal time available for the orchestra. He criticizes the performance as  "lacking continuity and forward thrust."

This is a very accurate description of why this piece is so difficult to perform well- with the piece's rapidly shifting segments of what Stravinsky refers to as 'litanies' of like instruments jumping in and out of the conversation. It can be very difficult to present to the audience a complete and congruent thought that continues to move forward in time smoothly. In order to achieve this, it takes a certain amount of time to explain to the ensemble what the goal of the piece is, and to, as best is possible, understand Stravinsky's true intention for the piece.

Here is a recording of the Netherlands Wind Ensemble performing the piece, and here is the article. Enjoy!

Takemitsu: Signals from Heaven

Our November 4th concert will feature Toru Takemitu's Signals from Heaven. The piece consists of two antiphonal fanfares for brass instruments in two groups, the overall instrumentation being 4 hns, 5 tpts (1 picc.), 4 tbns, 1 tba.

Toru Takemitsu, (1930 – 1996) was a Japanese composer and writer on aesthetics and music theory. Among many of his attributes as a composer, was his orchestration and ability to create varying timbral colors. Throughout his career his influences included jazz, popular music, avant garde procedures and traditional Japanese music. He also identified many composers that he drew influence from, including Claude Debussy, Olivier Messiaen, Anton Webern, Edgard Varèse, and Arnold Schoenberg.

Of these it can be argued that Messiaen was of a more important influence, as during the early- middle part of his career Takemitsu began to rely heavily upon nature and color as his aesthetic developed, much like Messiaen. John Cage acknowledges: "I can well imagine Toru Takemitsu travelling through Japan, not to capture different aspects of the moon, but let’s say to experience the wind whistling through different trees, and returning to the city with a gift. This gift consists of the transformation of nature into art." and of Messiaen, Takemitsu stated, "truly, he was my spiritual mentor ... Among the many things I learned from his music, the concept and experience of color and the form of time will be unforgettable."

Here is a recording of the Day Signal and Night Signal, and here you can read a more in-depth bio from Schott. Enjoy!

Harbison's Dance Number

This Tuesday's Composers Datebook entry featured wind music: John Harbison's Three City Blocks. In this composition, the composer taps into a period where every hotel in a major city had their own dance band. Like other composers of wind music, Harbison uses a hint (perhaps more than a hint in Three City Blocks,) of jazz influeces. The piece is quite interesting, and worth a listen! Click here to listen to clips of the piece, and here you can listen to the Datebook entry. Enjoy!

Post-Classical Ensemble

I thought it would be good to highlight an ensemble which has served as an excellent model for the UM Wind Orchestra in recent years. 8 years ago, conductor Angel Gil-Ordóñez and artistic adviser Joseph Horowitz teamed up to form the DC-based Post-Classical Ensemble. This ensemble is really the essence of "New Lights" (an initiative UMD has put forth to re-create the concert going experience), as the group uses all means necessary to enliven and re-envision the way audiences experience 'classical' music. in addition to its creative twist production, P-C E also designs programs which fully encompass a featured composer, region, or culture. An example of such a program would be their "Stravinsky Project", in which all aspects of Stravinsky's life and works are considered, and Mr. Horowitz and Mr. Ordóñez re-evaluate Stravinsky's all around "Russianism".

This upcoming season, the ensemble will present a similar lecture-based program highlighting Charles Ives, appropriately called "The Ives Project".

Like UM Wind Orchestra, the Post-Classical Ensemble uses flexible instrumentation, allowing for the highly creative performances of under-programed, yet very important pieces, many of which feature music for heavily scored, (or exclusively scored) for winds. Please follow the links to learn about the groups mission statement, the bios of Joseph Horowitz and Angel Gil-Ordóñez, to see upcoming programs, and to view videos of the group's performances. Enjoy!