Concert band/Wind Ensemble
NEBULA, (gr. 5) 22 minutes
C. Alan Publications
Inspired by photographs from the Hubble Space Telescope, Nebula is a three movement symphony for winds. Some nontraditional effects, such as pitch bending, singing, and unmeasured sections.
Sample score and sound clip: Nebula
Recording available at Amazon.com
Impressions--Drake University Wind Symphony
THE GREATEST GENERATION, (gr. 4) 18 minutes
C. Alan Publications (publication pending)
For narrator with band. THE GREATEST GENERATION is inspired by Tom Brokaw’s eloquent testament to the World War II generation. The music sets the background for a reading of four soldiers’ letters that highlight the emotion of those difficult times and the victorious struggle to preserve our freedom. Commissioned by the American School Band Directors Association.
COUNTRY DANCES, (gr. 4) 16 minutes
C. Alan Publications
The country dance, or “contradance” has a rich tradition in America. Although related to the more familiar square dance, the style is markedly different. Rather than the square set of four couples, any number of couples arranged in lines make up a contradance. The music of the contradance is mostly traditional tunes, with roots in the British Isles and New England. It is this music – the jigs, hornpipes, waltzes, schottisches, and fiddler’s reels – that brings the beauty and excitement to the dance. The tuneful melodies, rustic harmonies, and invigorating rhythms are truly a part of our American heritage.
Sample score and sound clip: Country Dances
OF THEE I SING, (gr. 4) 7 minutes
C. Alan Publications
Of Thee I Sing was commissioned by Major Donald E. Schofield for the United States Air Force Band of Mid-America. As the title suggests, the composition is based on the familiar patriotic tune "America." The piece is organized in three major sections that develop material from the song. Following an introduction, an original melody, lyrical and flowing in character with only a vague reference to the tune, is stated first in the horns and then throughout the ensemble. The middle section is driven by motivic fragments interspersed with intense percussion. The fragments coalesce into recognizable phrases from the tune, building to a peak. The music then transitions to the third and final section, a developed setting of "America" in its entirety. The piece ends with a glorious statement of the theme in the full ensemble.
Sample score and sound clip: Of Thee I Sing
BEAUTIFUL RIVER, (gr. 4)
C. Alan Publications
Beautiful River was commissioned by Daryl Jack and the Spring Hill High School Band, Spring Hill, Tennessee. It was written in memory of Christy Foster, a percussion player in the band who was killed in an automobile accident. Despite the tragic nature of the accident, Beautiful River does not attempt to serve as an elegy, but rather a celebration or reaffirmation of life. The final section is a developed setting of the hymn tune "Shall We Gather at the River."
Sample score and sound clip: Beautiful River
ON GREAT WHITE WINGS, (gr. 4) 9.5 minutes
C. Alan Publications
"There is no sport equal to that which aviators enjoy while being carried through the air on great white wings."- Wilbur Wright
On Great White Wings is a musical portrayal of four scenes in the quest for flight. Commissioned by the Tennessee Music Educators Association for the 2003 Tennessee All-State Band.
Sample score and sound clip: On Great White Wings
NEW FRONTIER, (gr. 4) 7 minutes
Daehn Publications
A musical tribute to that sense of vigor, imagination, and adventure that president John F. Kennedy brought to a nation.
Sound file: New Frontier
CRITICAL SPEED, (gr. 4), 7 minutes
Daehn Publications
The rate of velocity an object needs to escape Earth's gravity is called "critical speed." Revealing this image in musical terms, the piece has a constant, underlying rhythmic momentum that builds in several stages, leading to a peak of intensity. The music from this point is sheer fun, playful and exciting. The piece requires electric bass and drum set. Soloists (in a jazz idiom, but no improvisation) include alto sax., clarinet, trombone, and 2 trumpets.
Sound file: Critical Speed
MIRA!, (gr. 4) 4 minutes
C. Alan Publications
An exciting concert opener or festival piece. The title is the name of a bright star that is a prime candidate for supernova explosion in the near future. Some minimalist textures.
Sample score and sound clip: Mira!
FOOTPRINTS, (gr. 4) 8.5 minutes
C. Alan Publications
Commissioned by the Dickson Tennessee High School Band, Mark Kinzer, director. This musical portrayal interprets the familiar parable in five sections. Textures include passages for solo flute and a setting of the hymn song "Eventide" (also known as "Abide by Me".)
Sample score and sound clip: Footprints
ADAGIO AND CAPRICE, (gr. 4), 8 minutes
Bourne Music Publishers
Written for the Washington University Wind Ensemble. The adagio is lyrical and lightly scored, with musical material generated from the opening clarinet theme. The caprice is a spirited double fugue with interspersed chorale sections based on the adagio melody.
WAVERIDER, (gr. 4), 5.5 minutes
C. Alan Publications
Commissioned by the Tullahoma High School Band, Stephen and Marion Coleman, directors. An energetic work inspired by NASA's experimental aircraft, the X-43, engineered and tested in Tullahoma.
Sample score and sound clip: Waverider
I HAVE A DREAM, (gr. 3) 6 minutes
C. Alan Publications
A musical tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The piece offers a musical portrayal of King's famous speech, with sections titled "March on Washington", "Trials and Tribulations", and "Free at Last".
Sample score and sound clip: I Have A Dream
AN ENGLISH SUITE, (gr. 3)
Grand Mesa Music (publication pending)
A setting of four English Renaissance melodies, including a processional ("The Queen's Command"), a galliard ("Earl Strafford"), a pavane ("St. Thomas, Wake!"), and a shanty ("Fortune My Foe").
FREE, (gr. 3), 7 minutes
C. Alan Publications
Commissioned by the Montgomery County (TN) Honor Band in memory of student Joey Ansberry. This composition is intended to be an uplifting expression of life.
Sample score and sound clip: Free
WALLS OF ZION, (gr. 3) 7 minutes
Daehn Publications
A free setting of the revival spiritual "Zion's Walls." Winner of the 1999 College Band Directors National Association Young Band Composition Contest. Recorded by the Vandercook College Symphony Band on Mark Records Cat. No. 3593-- MCD www.markcustom.com
Sound file: Walls of Zion
ABAYE'S GAME, (gr. 3), 3 minutes
TRN Music
The melody is based on a traditional song from Ghana, West Africa, used in a hand clapping game. Several nontraditional effects are scored, including whistling, shouting, and clapping. Characteristic of African music, the piece features a "call and response" section where a rhythm is first stated in the percussion and then repeated by wind players clapping.
Sample score and sound clip: Abaya's Game
DOWN BY THE SALLEY GARDENS (gr. 2) 5.5 minutes
C. Alan Publications, Pioneer series
A salley garden is a garden of willow trees, kept in Medieval Ireland to have material for basket making and thatch roofing for cottages. It was a place where people would sometimes go to find the solitude to contemplate life's questions.
Sample score and sound clip: Down by the Salley Gardens
SIYAHAMBA, (gr. 2)
Grand Mesa Music
Siyahamba is an African melody native to the Zulu people of South Africa. This setting involves singing and clapping from the band.
Sample score and sound clip: Siyahamba
ZEPHYR, (gr. 2) 3 minutes
C. Alan Publications, Maestro series
ZEPHYR is a poetic term for a gentle breeze. Nature offers few pleasures that are more calm and peaceful than the mood we feel with a refreshing breeze. It is this thought that is the stimulus for this ballad for band.
Sample score and sound clip: Zephyr
DEDICATION, (gr. 2) 3 minutes
C. Alan Publications
A traditional concert march, featuring the clarinet section in the trio. Commissioned by the Charleston Missouri High School Band, Chris Starr, director.
Sample score and sound clip: Dedication
SECONDS, PLEASE! (gr. 2) 3 minutes
C. Alan Publications, Pioneer Series
This is a fun piece in march style that emphasizes the musical interval of the second. As musicians know, seconds are two notes that are next to each other in sound. When heard together, they give a little more "bite" to the harmony than more traditional chords. All melodic phrases and nearly every harmony in the piece focus on this interval.
Sample score and sound clip: Seconds, Please!
THE WATER IS WIDE (gr. 2) 5 minutes
C. Alan Publications
Dating back to the 1700's, this Scottish folk song was initially known as "O Waly, Waly". This free setting connects original music with the source melody in a continuos unfolding of melodic and motivic material.
Sample score and sound clip: The Water Is Wide
BALLAD (gr. 2) 3.5 minutes
(publication pending)
An expressive, lyrical piece for band. Ideal for teaching phrasing, intonation, and a singing style.
MEASURE OF VALOR (gr. 1.5) 2.5 minutes
Grand Mesa Music (publication pending)
Noble in character, this concert piece states a bold theme in g minor followed by an uplifting Bb major section. A final section develops thematic ideas and reprises the g minor tonality.
BUMP IN THE NIGHT (gr. 1) 2.5 minutes
(publication pending)
A spooky, Halloweenish tune where everyone gets a turn at the melody and the percussion section gets to play some “surprise” instruments, like the flexatone and vibraslap.