Band Music Reviews
I still don’t know how this works…but the older you get, the faster the summers fly by!
It’s hard to believe that the calendar is already
inching toward “fall” and we will all be preparing holiday concerts before we know it. For those of you who teach high school, I’m certain you are “knee deep” in marching band, as am I, but I hope you aren’t neglecting to continue to reinforce quality sounds at every turn. During my 25 years as a high school director, I always worked toward producing a fall concert each year. I tried to schedule the concert sometime during the middle of October, which allowed plenty of time to prepare a holiday concert in December. Having our students make warm, characteristic sounds should be a goal we strive for no matter if we’re playing indoors or outdoors, and working on concert literature seemed to always reinforce that concept for me. For our middle school colleagues, working to produce a concert in the fall with our 2nd
or 3rd year students works well and gives those students another goal to work toward.
Over the summer, the ABA board has updated our ABA Cumulative Music List with several new (and new to the list) compositions. Keeping any graded music list current and updated is a daunting task, especially with the amount of new music that is available to us today. I have provided a quick overview of several of the pieces that have been included in the most recent update of the ABA list below. I hope you find the information helpful and encourage you to check out these pieces as you are building your curriculum for the upcoming year.
Fivefold by Michael Oare is a new addition to the ABA Class C list. Michael Oare is a middle school band director in Virginia and an incredible veteran music educator. His works are always excellent teaching pieces and work well to introduce new concepts and solidify previously taught ideas. In Fivefold, Michael has several references to the number “5”, including the meter, which is 5/4 for almost the entire piece. While the use of 5/4 meter is an obvious connection to the title, upon closer examination, you detect that he uses the interval of a fifth throughout the composition. He also uses only five different pitches for most the work and the tempo remains constant from beginning to end. This piece is sure to be a hit with your students who will find the rhythmic groove very appealing. The clarinets really get a workout and there are multiple opportunities to reinforce proper articulation in all sections of the work for every section of the ensemble. Fivefold is an outstanding addition to our repertoire and to the Class C list. You and your students should enjoy this piece very much.
We are so fortunate in our state to claim so many outstanding composers as “our own”. Tyler Arcari has enjoyed recent success as a composer, and his new piece All the While was added to the ABA Class D list this summer. All the While is an excellent new young band piece that exposes your students to performing different styles and to playing in a minor mode. Opening with a lovely flute and alto saxophone solo, the piece features lyrical and articulate styles with an engaging primary melody that is played by several of the voices throughout the piece. All the While will challenge your young musicians to play with characteristic sounds and play with mature intonation as the primary melody centers around concert “C” and concert “G”…two notes that provide many young instrumentalists plenty of “listening challenges”. All the While is a welcome addition to the repertoire at the Grade 2 level and provides an outstanding new work for the Class D list.
One of the most unique new pieces on the list was Brian Balmages ala breve 27
Randall Coleman
new piece for Grade 1, Radiance. This piece is perfect for the Spring Concert with your beginners. Written especially for those groups who are blessed with an over-abundance of percussionists, Radiance can keep at least a dozen beginning percussionists very busy! Alternatively, the piece works well with as few as 3 percussionists. Radiance is built around a motif of only two notes, and it relies very heavily on the texture that is created with mallet percussion instruments. Radiance is also an excellent introduction to mixed-meter with the piece being “felt” in 7/4, but written as 4/4 +3/4. Written for three bell parts, Radiance allows your percussionist to focus attention on note-reading and strengthening their skills as mallet players. Since most beginning band percussionist “kits” include a set of bells, this piece fits the bill if you are looking for a well written work to “keep everyone busy”.
I
think you will like Radiance…I know your beginning percussionists will! Radiance is a new addition for the ABA Class D list and the publisher places it as a Grade 1.
One of the most performed composers in our genre is Robert Sheldon. Robert has long been one of the leaders in writing quality music for our ensembles. His music is always educationally sound, challenging and musical. I have always found that my student love playing his music and his contributions to the wind band literature are monumental. One of Robert’s new additions is Oracles of the Sirocco, which has recently been added to the Class BB list. A beautiful, energetic piece, Oracles of the Sirocco provides ample opportunity for growth in your ensemble in all areas of ensemble playing. It also features solos written for oboe, bassoon (both cued in other instruments), trumpet and horn. Moving between major and minor tonalities and utilizing numerous sections with mixed- meters, your students will be challenged with shifting pitch centers and establishing and maintaining a steady internal pulse. As with all of Robert Sheldon’s work, Oracles of the Sirocco is full of teaching opportunities that will be both educational for your students and entertaining for your audience. The publisher lists the grade level as a 3.5…I would have to shift it more toward a solid grade 4 and a wonderful addition to the ABA Class BB list. Enjoy!
Best wishes for an incredible year. I look forward to hearing your ensembles throughout the year. As always, do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of assistance to you or your students.
Randall Coleman Associate Director of Bands The University of Alabama
rocoleman@ua.edu
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