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Jeff Girard and Midwest Sheet Music present
The Wind Band Report
Collegiate edition:
Paso Dobles, Rolf Rudin, and conducting symposiums.
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Vol. 4, No. 5 April. 2016
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Hi there. Since we're at the end of the school year I finally have time to really delve into topics I've meant to talk about for a while. I know all of you are done with music for the year, but this will give you a few things to think about for the fall. I'll send out 2 or 3 more of these in the summer, then email you a recap with links to those issues so you can go back to it once you're back to thinking about music programming again.
I've got two topics to share with you today - Paso Doble music and the works of Rolf Rudin. |
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Paso Dobles from Piles Music
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I've worked with Piles Music in Spain for many years, starting from when Jim Cochran first learned about the Rodrigo Adagio Para Instrumentos de Viento. In the last few years they've been showcasing their works at our booth at Midwest and they're beginning to get some more attention, especially with the publication of Alarcon's Duende.
The Paso Doble is a specific style of march, a dance of Spanish origin with a lively style and a specific tempo of 120 bpm, adapted widely by both the Spanish infantry and the famous bull fights of Spain. It's a refreshing and exotic change to the traditional American March. With the publisher being based in Spain, they have numerous Paso-Dobles in their catalog. However, they picked out some specific ones to showcase and put together a sharp, concise web page just for me specifically. You can order directly from their site (below) and the sale will be processed through us, or you can go to our web site and order what you like along with anything else you may need.
Click the link above to view the web page Piles set up for us, then take a look and a listen to a few of them. You'll probably find at least one that suits your fancy.
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Rolf Rudin - looking beyond Oenghus
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Jim Cochran first met composer Rolf Rudin over 20 years ago, shortly before I started working with Jim at Shattinger Music. Rolf was getting noticed in the US for his composition The Dream of Oenghus, Part I, and directors were asking Jim how to get the music. Jim talked with Rolf at Midwest and came to an arrangement to be the exclusive US distributors of his works. I was fortunate enough to be able to carry this arrangement through to my employment here at Midwest Sheet Music.
He's still most well known for The Dream of Oenghus Part 1 and Part 2, and also his Song Without Words (Lied Ohne Worte). He's a fairly prolific composer though and has written numerous other works for all levels of band from beginning to collegiate. His compositional style typically follows a strong adherence to classical form and makes great use of classical motivic development, yet his sound is forward thinking and progressive in style. Many of his works draw inspiration from mystical concepts and ideas.
Some of his works have study sized scores (8x12) available, I've made not of that if one exists. Also, please note that the parts are sold separately from the score for all his pieces.
I'll list some of my favorites from grades 4-6. If you want to know about his grade 1-3 pieces, you can read about them in the High School edition of the Wind Band Report, which I sent out at about the same time as this. You can also find it in the Wind Band Report Archives.
Right as I was about to send this out, I stumbled across an extensively detailed paper by Gary Brattin about Rolf Rudin, his works, and his compositional style. Click away if you're into reading heavy details.
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Out of Nowhere
Grade 4.5
Legend has it that long ago the Tuath De Danaan came to Ireland either out of heaven or out of thin air and drove out the tribes of Ireland. Eventually they were driven out and disappeared as mysteriously as they appeared, but still ruled from behind a magic fog which hid them from sight. I only just discovered this, and it's one of my favorites now. Rudin uses several mystical and exotic sounds that I particularly enjoyed. The recording here is only selected excerpts.
Set $260
Score $70; Study Score $40
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Sechs Tanze (Six Dances)
Grade 4
For many years Jim Cochran led Commissioning Project focused on chamber winds music for high school and small collegiate school level players. The work is in six contrasting movements and scored for 2 Flutes, 2 Oboes, 2 Clarinets, Bass Clarinet, Bassoon, Alto Sax, Tenor Sax, 2 Trumpets, Horn, Trombone, Tuba, and 2 Percussion. The degree of technique and the length varies greatly between movements, so you may consider doing a suite of select movements to suit your ensemble.
Set $110
Score $50
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Bleicher Mond (Pale Moon)
Grade 4
An extended tone poem which Rudin associates as a nocturnal painting full of sentimental poetry. The majority of the work is very transparent, with occasional use of contemporary techniques of clusters, sound strata, murmured words and blowing into the instrument to create the atmosphere envisioned by the composer. It could work for an exceptional honor festival, but I like it more as a way to expose a band to transparent writing without using excessive technique.
Set $250
Score $60
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Tore der Sonne (Gates of the Sun)
Grade 4
This is another of Rudin's many works that use mystical motives as the inspiration for his work. like Oenghus and several of his other works listed here. This work is based on a Celtic circular grave site, each with four gates, each gate illuminated exactly at the solstice days. The number 4 is reflected in numerous ways, not the least of which is the ample use and development of a 4 note motif, There's a nice, mystical sounding interlude at around the 6:45 mark that I liked a lot.
Set $250
Score $60; Study Score $36
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Die Druiden
Grade 5
Subtitled "A Mythical Remembrance", this work attempts to capture the aspects of the ancient Celtic druids, powerful mystics and guardians of nature who could be both serenely peaceful and brutally violent. The music develops in a large variety of styles along the way, each capturing a facet of the legendary mythical image of the Druids of long ago
Set $260
Score $70; Study Score $40
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Bacchanale
Grade 5.5
Rolf's second composition for band is based on the myth of the Roman god of wine, Bacchus. Festivals in honor of Bacchus were wild, boisterous, and festive occasions. The energy of this work is frenetic and constant, nervous and exuberant, with only a pair of chamber like interludes along the way for the audience to catch their breath.
Set $260
Score $70; Study Score $40
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Set $140 Score $40
Set $800, Score $120,
Study Score $80
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Set $220, Score $66
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(was performed at WASBE 2015)
Set $320, Score $70
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Set $360, Score $80,
Study Score $50
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And of course (if you didn't already know about these) -
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If you're holding a conducting symposium this summer and I haven't contacted you yet, drop me a line. I have a spot on the band page of our web site where participants can go and get what they need from the list of required repertoire. I have about 15 listed so far, with a handful of others I'm waiting to find out about their literature selections.
Let me know what your literature list and expected number of active participants and I'll make sure I have stock of everything you're doing. Participants can go to http://www.midwestsheetmusic.com/pages/band and get whatever they need right away. |
| There's a lot of materials I've presented here, so like I said just file this away if you don't have the time now and I'll send a reminder link in late July. Have a great end of the school year, I'll be taking advantage of this down period to really get our web site into shape for the next school year. I should have dozens of new publishers uploaded and our credit card processor working by then. Take care everyone! |
 Thank you as always -
Jeff Girard Instrumental Specialist Instrumental Music (my direct line): 314/942-1522 General phone line: 314/291-4686 Fax: 314/621-4166 |
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1234 Main Street, Awesomeville, MA � 555.555.5555
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