Travis J. Weller

Two new works are now up on my compositions page. Yankee Overture, recorded by the GCC Wind Ensemble, and Romance for Winds, recorded by the Westminster College Wind Ensemble are both under publication review. Yankee Overture is a rousing concert opener based upon the folk song “Yankee Doodle”. “Romance for Winds” is a bit of a departure from some of my other songs stylistically, but pretty true to my orchestration tendencies. It is dedicated to my wife Beth, who without her love, support, and care, I could never have arrived at this point in my life. My thanks also to Dr. Arnold at GCC and Dr. Greig at Westminster – I appreciate their willingness to read and record this music with their students and making the recordings available. Enjoy!

I am pleased to have two new selections available from the FJH Music Company this summer.  The first is a transcription of a piece originally written for the River City Youth Brass Band in 2009.  “A Frontier Fought and A City Found” retells a small part of the story from the Seven-years War in relation to the founding of Pittsburgh, Pa. It is intended for high school band.  The second piece is a 3 movement programmatic suite entitled “Tales of Medieval Warrior”.  The piece follows the dubbing of  new knight, his courtship of a fair maiden, and his eventual conquest at a jousting tournament.  It is intended for middle school/junior high ensembles.  The first two-movements are in cut-time, though the rhythms are very basic and dance-like.  The final movement uses a variety of rhythms in 6/8 time that are well within the abilities of musicians at this age.  Thank you to the colleagues who provided feedback about these pieces along the way, and to Brian for his support and belief in this music.

This week I began researching interpretation and feeling as part of my work at Kent State.  At first glance, they seemed unrelated. However, the more I began reading perspectives of different composers and conductors, my conclusion is that great interpretation does not just recreate the composer’s intent but rather conveys feelings that the composer intended. The sources abounded including Mark Camphouse’s series Composers on Composing for Band, and a great text edited by John Williamson Rehearsing the Band – both of which I recommend for great insight into score study, interpretation, and enhancing your podium perspective. Read more…

The pieces have been saved from our band rooms, but there are plenty of you out there who didn’t realize MY BAND ROOM IS ON FIRE! There is still time to make a save, as the fire is still burning. Join in on the conversation and save a piece of music (just no more than seven). As you can tell by the list below, a lot of friends and colleagues made some tough (but great) choices in an effort to preserve our music. Hats off to Holst, Alfred Reed, and Frank Ticheli who were the composers mentioned the most often. First Suite in Eb and The Pines of Rome were also a favorite in terms of singular pieces. I find it very rewarding to find some of the hidden gems in the literature listed below (Nelson’s Courtly Airs and Dances, Carter’s Overture for Winds, Reed’s Rushmore). Since writing this post, I have discovered several more pieces that I probably could not live without (Selections from the “Danseyre” arranged by Patrick Dunnigan and Ticheli’s Symphony No. 2). As far as noticeable exceptions – The Stars and Stripes Forever (I guess we all just figured we could buy a new edition by Brion and Schissel), 2^nd Suite for Military Band in F (No love for their second masterpiece by Holst), and Festive Overture (Shostakovich can really get the juices flowing) really come to mind quickly for not making the first list. Looking at notable composers left off the list – the absence of writers like Mark Camphouse, James Curnow, and James Barnes are very surprising to me. Timothy Mahr, Samuel Hazo, and David Gillingham definitely deserve to be saved at some point – it would be interesting to see where the those gentlemen would end up if this list was done five years from now and songs like Endurance, Ride!, and Galactic Empires get more exposure. So in no particular order, here is what was saved when MY BAND ROOM IS ON FIRE!…

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