Wind repertoire with lots of percussion

I was sent an email by a colleague recently who is struggling to find repertoire to occupy the seven percussionists in his high school band. I too have the same blessing of a large percussion section of seven this year. It really can be a juggle to find pieces that keep them engaged. Here are some that I have been studying, have performed, or am considering. Hopefully I'll keep adding to this list. (I note that the majority of Grade 5+ pieces call for lots of percussion...I've only listed ones I know personally)

Band repertoire for 5+ percussionists

(these percussion requirements are off the top of my head)

Grade 0-3

• The Headless Horseman - Timothy Broege (1.5mins - Grade 2)
• Mazama - Jay Chattaway (6-7mins, Grade 3) [to be done as written actually requires 13 players, great for combined ensembles/workshops]
• Old Churches - Michael Colgrass (6mins, Grade 2-3)
• Whirlwind - Jodie Blackshaw (6-7mins, Grade 1.5 - 2)

Grade 4+

• Africa: Ceremony, Song & Ritual - Robert W. Smith (7mins)
• Alligator Alley - Michael Daugherty (5mins)
• Bali - Michael Colgrass (8mins)
• Gumsuckers March - Percy Grainger ed. R. Mark Rogers (6mins)
• J.S. Jig - Brandt Karrick (4mins)
• The Little Ripper March - David Stanhope (3.5mins)
• Metroplex - Robert Sheldon (6mins)
• Nett Interference - Taran Carter (5mins)
• Of Sailors & Whales - W. Francis McBeth - Gr 4, 17mins (can be split)
• Sang! - Dana Wilson (5mins)
• Streets of Forbes - David Jones (5mins)
• Tocata & La Tumba de Alejandro Garcia Caturla - Shelley Hanson (10mins total (2mvts))
• Turkey in the Straw - Michael Markowski (5mins)
• Variations on a Korean Folk Song - John Barnes Chance - (6mins)

Grade 5+

• Angels in the Architecture - Frank Ticheli (15.5mins)
• Bandancing - Jack Stamp (10+mins)
• El Camino Real - Alfred Reed (7mins)
• Equus - Eric Whitacre (9 mins)
• Esprit de Corps - Robert Jager (6mins)
• Masada - Ralph Hultgren (10mins)
• Short Ride in a Fast Machine - John Adams arr. Odom
• The Solitary Dancer - Warren Benson (6.5mins)
• Symphonic Movement - Vaclav Nelyhbel (7mins)
• Vasa - Jose Suner-Oriola (10mins)
• Vientos Y Tangos - Michael Gandolfi (11mins)

Composers who generally write for large percussion sections:

• Michael Markowski
• John Mackey
• Nathan Daughtrey
• Donald Grantham
• Cindy McTee
• Karel Husa
• W. Francis McBeth
• Warren Benson
• Frank Ticheli (selected pieces)

If you have further ideas/composers/pieces please email me or share on comments!

Choosing repertoire (school groups)- musings on our biggest responsibility

Although it comes around several times per year, the December/January period is often an intense time when it comes to choosing repertoire. Apart from score study, this probably takes up the largest amount of time in terms of my preparation for a term/season of teaching.

How much should you plan at once?
With my school group I try to plan the whole year at once, if not further. We actually start the 'year' in September, so most of my repertoire has already been set for some time. I have been using the last few weeks to slot final pieces into place. The advantages of planning a year in advance are the same as those for teachers planning any other curriculum. You need to be able to plan a course sequential learning.

I have just returned from the Midwest Clinic where I heard a great presentation given by Richard Miles, editor of the "Teaching Music Through Performance" series at GIA, whose topic was "The Score is the Curriculum". I have always had long range planning in my sights, in the back of my mind, but he provided a great framework for making it happen. In actual fact he presented and compared and contrasted a whole variety of 'hybrid cycles' of programming that have been proposed over the years, some of which are in the books.

The main points that really resonated were:

1. Plan over a four year cycle.

It doesn't matter what year in the cycle kids enter the ensemble, as throughout their time they will be exposed to all of it. I know this is almost the opposite to what I was saying about sequential learning, but keep reading.

2. Use the cycle to simultaneously teach periods/styles and about the elements of music

Now these systems have been designed for use in the US, where Band or Orchestra is a class, and 'Classroom Music' as we know it in Australia often does not exist. In the absence of such a class, all aspects of musicianship - history, performance, theory etc. must be taught IN ENSEMBLE.

Whilst you may think this is not necessary in an Australian co-curricular ensemble, think about how many of your students do classroom music all the way up to year 12. Now think about how much content they miss out on for each year they are not doing it beyond the compulsory years. I think we owe it to not only the students, but also the music we are performing (read composers!) to give them a grounding in the music history and theory behind what we are playing. This only serves to give them more insight into, and by extension more enjoyment of the music.

The way he structured it was:

Year 1: Mediaeval/Renaissance/Baroque - focus on melody

Year 2: Classical/Romantic - focus on harmony

Year 3: Contemporary 1 - focus on rhythm

Year 4: Contemporary 2 - focus on timbre

This really makes sense to me. Very broadly, it's highlighting the major developments of music history through repertoire selection. However, you wouldn't want to spend the whole year just playing music from one period (well, you might!)...so he advocates using the repertoire as follows:

(Presuming four major concerts/year)

Concert 1: One Period piece

Concert 2: A piece from the core repertoire (any era)

Concert 3: One Period piece

Concert 4: A piece from the core repertoire (any era)

It's not all-consuming. Just two pieces throughout the year. But it gives a thread that weaves through your whole year of teaching, you can refer back to things discussed earlier in the year, helping the students make connections. Having the core repertoire also means you don't neglect these important Masterworks. I like the idea of having things that tie all your teaching together and in a way that you are not missing anything out. The structure keeps you on task. I am going to try to begin with this plan this year....I will let you know how I go!

How do you plan?

I want to combine the historical/core repertoire teaching of the Richard Miles model with my musical goals for the students.

Assessment - looking at past and present

Firstly, in order to come up with these goals I spend a lot of time reviewing where the ensemble is at currently and what they have achieved in the past. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the ensemble? What are the strengths and weaknesses of individual players? What is holding the group back musically? What challenges do they need next? This assessment is constant and ongoing - at each rehearsal, weekly, monthly, in performance. It might also be guided by other people's comments about the group, adjudicator notes etc. How successful have they been in achieving the previous set of goals?

Vision - looking forward

What is next for the group? I usually start at the end of the period being planned - I envision what I would like the ensemble to achieve by the end of the year. This might be a set of particular musical aptitudes - ie. I want them to be able to confidently play syncopated semiquaver rhythms at sight, to independently shape a solo or phrase - or it might be a specific piece. Usually if I have a specific piece in mind it is because subconsciously it is ticking a whole lot of musical boxes of what I want them to accomplish. The more specific these goals are the better.

The repertoire choice is wholly determined by what I want the students to get out of it musically.

Then, based on these end goals I find what repertoire I would like them to be playing at the end of the year. After this it is just a matter of working backwards to build up to the final point. Ie. If I want to program Redline Tango by John Mackey for our final concert I know the band will need to be able to:

• perform complex semiquaver-based rhythms incl. syncopations in mixed meters
• maintain a fast pulse through mixed compound & simple meters
• have technical dexterity in certain keys
• have a certain secure range with good intonation on their instrument
• certain players will need to perform convincing, expressive solos

And I know that currently:

• they have technical dexterity in certain keys, but not at that tempo
• may have a slightly narrower range on their instrument with good intonation
• can play quaver based rhythms & syncopations in mixed meters
• can play semiquaver based rhythms & syncopations in simple meters at moderate tempo
• some players are reluctant when playing solos

So knowing where we are and where we need to get to I work backwards finding pieces that will work us towards the final skills needed.

The repertoire is the test of whether they have mastered the skills I am trying to teach. If they get to the first reading of ie. Redline Tango and have lots of problems and we have to keep stopping and starting then I haven't done my job properly. The idea is that by the time that arrives on their stands they are really ready to tackle it so there isn't too much time spent on technical drilling and we can actually make music. This means that my teaching always has to be ahead of the repertoire - making sure we cover the necessary skill development through warm ups in particular.

That said, there are a whole lot of other constraints to consider:

• Instrumentation
• Performances - venue, duration, audience
• Appeal to audience & students
• Contrasting styles
• Covering a wide variety of genres, styles, composers, sound-worlds

Tim Reynish explains it well (from timreynish.com):

"Would I, as a solo player, want to work on this music, does it satisfy me in terms of emotional content, melody, harmony, form, orchestration?"

If you can answer this question with a confident yes, you are on the right path.

Anyway, those are just my thoughts. What informs how YOU choose repertoire?

Finishing School - where to from here with music?

It's rolled around again - today hundreds of thousands of Victorian Year 12 students begin the final stretch of their secondary schooling when they sit the VCE English exam.

Thousands of these students play a musical instrument or sing. They and their parents have invested hundreds of dollars, hours, litres of petrol and tears into becoming the best musicians they can be:

Lessons, concerts, camps, festivals, competitions, recitals, master-classes, eisteddfods, extended rehearsals, excursions, recordings, sheet music and practice, practice, practice.

For the majority of students music is not their career of choice. Whilst some may continue to formally study as an adjunct to something else for most the lessons are over. They have been cast into the musical world to fend for themselves. This begs two questions: -

1) Will they sink or swim?

2) What opportunities can they grab onto?

I've long been a staunch advocate for the power of community music - and NOW is the time to let leaving students know what opportunities exist for them beyond the school music department. There are dozens of community groups of every shape and size out there in just about every community. Whether you play clarinet, kazoo or sing contralto there is something for everyone.

We need more publicity, support and resources available for those who wish to continue their music and we should encourage all students to make use of the talents in which they have invested so much. A great start is the "Music. Play for Life" campaign, a national initiative of the Music Council of Australia. They can put people in touch with just about any music activity going on anywhere:

www.musicplayforlife.org

Another site with lots of links (particularly to choral and orchestral groups) is the Community Music Victoria website:

http://cmv.customer.netspace.net.au/

Finally, the Manningham Concert Band, a community-based wind ensemble in North-Eastern Melbourne maintains an excellent list of links to community bands in Victoria:

http://home.vicnet.net.au/~mannband/9links.htm

We owe it to our students, as a parting gift, to guide them toward opportunities where they can continue to express themselves and discover the unending joys of music.

It's all for the magic moments

One thing I am constantly discussing with my students is the motivation behind music-making. I strongly believe that practicing, rehearsing and polishing a performance should be directed towards achieving those rare, indescribable musical moments that touch and move you.

Dr. Paula Crider calls these million-dollar moments. They don't come along very often. Through hundreds of performances as an instrumentalist, chorister and conductor I could count these highlights on one hand. Whilst there are many uplifting times during rehearsals and performances once one experiences that rush of being in 'flow' and totally giving oneself to the music there is no going back. The feeling is addictive.

What exactly determines the occurence of these moments is a discussion for another time, but it's these moments that keep musicians going, and audiences coming back. Therefore, young musicians must to be given the opportunity to have these experiences and engage with music on this deep, personal level. Only through this will students come to develop a personal love of music for music's sake.

Leading students to have these million-dollar-moments as their main motivational tool for performing and practicing is a long process. In an ensemble setting it requires extremely careful planning of repertoire, rehearsals, curriculum and listening.

This approach lacks the ease of motivating students with the prize of winning a competition, getting a high score or impressing a teacher. Such goals are clear, the results tangible and measurable. They usually come on pieces of paper with scores out of 100 or a grade from A to F. Is this what music is for? Constantly throwing down these gauntlets to our students without pause to appreciate the aesthetic gives our students exactly that message.

Being motivated by art and the desire to create a feelingful performance is a long road. As stated, the big rewards are few and far between. However this approach leads not only to eventual million-dollar-moments, but an appreciation of the journey along the way. Students who yearn for music to move them do not worry about the competition results, or adjudication reports. They grow to love music, and develop a desire to represent the composer and the music with integrity. They are more afraid of being musically average than wrong notes. As Benjamin Zander says of phrasing: they are like the bird that flies over the fields without worrying about the fences underneath.

Syzygy Ensemble - astounding!

Last month I went to an astounding performance by the Syzygy Ensemble (www.syzygyensemble.com) at the Guildford Lane Gallery in Melbourne. There were so many different factors that contributed to the impact this concert had upon me.

The venue: small, out of the way, the Gallery is situated in a quiet laneway in which you could be forgiven for thinking you'd been transported to the 1900s. Held in the main downstairs space there was a small homely bar and...the programme! All across a long wall of the room was an enormous roll of white butcher's paper upon which the program was scrawled in very artistic pencil script in various fonts. It was a fantastic piece of art on it's own and it meant no-one shuffling programs during the performance.

The music: all twentieth century program - what blew me away was how new and fresh a lot of the music sounded despite being 20 or 30 years old. There were pieces by Copland, Crumb, Beaser and Corigliano.

Performance: Two performances really stood out for me: Leila Engle & Leigh Harrold playing Robert Beaser's Variations for Flute and Piano and Crumbs Apparitions with soprano Greta Bradman. The Beaser was a mammoth work at over 30mins and absolutely virtuosic. I was completely engaged by this performance and the work itself was intriguing.

The Crumb was fantastic. The music was really creepy and used several extended techniques in the piano part. It was helpful that the audience were given copies of the libretto/lyrics to read along with. Greta Bradman's singing was incredible, dramatic and exciting.

The other works on the program were similarly satisfying, but these two works sold the performance for me.

I'll look forward to the ensemble's next concert!

'Johan de Meij' concert

On the last day of term our school band performed a concert at Melba Hall with the Grainger Wind Symphony. Originally composer Johan de Meij was supposed to be guest-conducting GWS in his Symphony No. 3 Planet Earth.

Our program was:

Esprit de Corps - Robert Jager

In Stillness - Brian Hogg

Nett Interference - Taran Carter

Don Ricardo - Gabriel Musella & Rick Rodriguez

First Suite in Eb - Gustav Holst

This program was a big challenge for us. It's a significant amount of music, and to finish with the Holst is a big deal. The piece in itself requires significant stamina especially from the brass. I tried to space the demands upon the brass across the program. Esprit de Corps is also a big blow and in some ways a risky start due to the high tessitura of most parts and possible issues with intonation.

Although I'm yet to hear a recording the concert felt really good. The students definitely played Esprit de Corps the best they had so far - really lifted for the concert. In Stillness was very moving. The expression, dynamics and phrasing are really coming along in that piece. I felt the audience were satisfied with our reading of it. Nett Interference has become much more comfortable for us after several performances - I am very happy with all we have achieved through working on this piece. The composer was at the concert which was brilliant and I got to talk to him briefly afterwards. Don Ricardo was slightly undercooked - we had had the music for the shortest time. I think we have some more work to do on the contrast and really making the high points sparkle. It needs more drama.

The Holst was considerably better than their last performance. The chamber sections in the first movement were much more settled and the stress and phrasing in the March was much better. My project for term 2 will be to improve our soft dynamics - this would open up a whole new dimension to the Intermezzo.

Symphony No. 3 - 'Planet Earth'

Grainger Wind Symphony performed the Planet Earth Symphony, but without Johan de Meij who was unexpectedly unable to make it to the concert (!). The work opens with recorded artificial sounds of what one imagines to be depicting comets or asteroids passing and big bangs designed to represent - yes, the Big Bang! The piece was epic in scale and alternated between strong, fully scored sections and more introspective moments which showcased some beautiful bassoon solos in particular. It also employed celli and double bass which provided an interesting new colour and texture. The taped sounds recur throughout the work. Some difficult moments were when the band came back in with the tape and the pitch was slightly different. Towards the end of the work the texture was full and loud for an extended period which became a bit repetitive - partly due to how small the venue was for prolonged fff's and the piercing high woodwind and mallet parts. It was performed well (from what I could tell without a score). The brass were to be commeneded on their stamina - the piece was approx 50mins. long and they didn't really show any signs of flagging at any stage.

All in all it was a successful evening - even if I didn't get home till after 12am following unpacking the truck at school.

Looking forward to the next big performance!

West Side Story

I'm very behind on reporting on my concert-going activities...so, a quick catch up:

A few weeks ago I went to the MSO's concert conducted by Alexander Shelley which featured a piece by Reveultas, the Concierto de Aranjuez by Rodrigo and West Side Story Symphonic Dances. I went for the Bernstein - I will pretty much go to any concert that involves Bernstein. (Although I do draw the limit at really bad school bands playing bad arrangements of WSS which I have unfortunately been privy to in the past).

This was the second time I'd seen/heard Shelley conduct the piece - the other time was in January last year with AYO. It was an exciting performance. I was listening and watching in a different way to normal as someone in the Frankston Symphony has requested that we play it in a movie-theme concert at the end of the year. In particular, I was focussing on what the strings role was and how hard their parts were. I was actually surprised at how uncomplicated yet fantastic their parts are in the first two main dances. Afterwards their parts became more challenging - far beyond our players at the moment. A highlight of the performance was Geoff Payne's trumpet solos, especially in the Mambo (always a highlight, actually) and the orchestra yelling out 'Mambo!'. Concertmaster Marcus Tomasi turned directly to the audience each time and yelled at the top of his lungs with great love and energy - looked like he was having a ball. The violas too were having fun - they seemed to pulse their instruments ever so slightly upwards. With each successive cry of 'Mambo' I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see if they would go the thole Simon Bolivar thing and jump up and down. If you haven't seen the video you need to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtnjixhvOTU

Lots of fun!!

Slava Grigoriyan (?sp) played the Rodrigo, which was great, but sandwiched between the two much fuller pieces the guitar sound seemed to pale in comparison, just to do with the orchestration. Interesting to note in my future programming.