Concerto for Percussion and Wind Orchestra

The huge array of solo instruments in my Concerto for Percussion and Wind Orchestra is the result of a request from the soloist, Gordon Stout, not to limit myself mainly to the marimba (of which he is, of course, a famous exponent) but instead to range widely across all the percussion families. There are a number of timbral groupings: wood and drum sounds in the first movement, set against boisterous, big-band-like riffs from the ensemble, for example; or marimba paired with steel drum as the lyrical voices in the slow second movement. The third movement, a scherzo, uses only keyboards ? glockenspiel, xylophone, marimba ? and it winks broadly at Strauss?s "Til Eulenspiegel". The fourth movement turns to solemn, metallic resonances ? gongs, Japanese temple bells, almglocken (tuned European cowbells) ? and it sets these against the ominous heartbeat pattern of the bass drum. This movement reflects the somber atmosphere of fall 2001 more directly than I ever intended. Ordinarily I am skeptical of musical responses to outside events, and I never planned to write a piece ?about? the attacks of September 11; yet, as I was writing this movement I asked myself why the music seemed so dark, so serious, and only then I realized that the world had thrust itself into my music whether I wanted it or not. Hence the dedication ?To the victims of September 11, 2001,? added after the fourth movement was finished. The finale returns to the extroverted atmosphere of the first movement, with the soloist ? now playing metal instruments that go ?clunk? (agogo bells, Latin-American cowbells, brake drums, anvil) and ?boing? (the spring from an automobile suspension) ? trading riffs with the ensemble. The work closes with a return to the wood and skin sounds of the opening. The Concerto was commissioned in honor of Donald Hunsberger on the occasion of his retirement after forty years as director of the Eastman Wind Ensemble, by a consortium of his ex-students, many of the leading wind conductors across the United States and even abroad. The work was completed on November 30, 2001, and the percussionist Gordon Stout and the Ithaca College Wind Ensemble (Stephen Peterson, director) gave the first performance at the Eastman Theater in Rochester, New York, on February 6, 2002, with Donald Hunsberger conducting.

Instrumentation:

• Solo Percussion
• 6 Tom-tom
• 2 Bongos
• Congas
• Timpani
• Log Drum
• Wood Block
• Steel Drum (tenor)
• Marimba
• Glockenspiel
• Xylophone
• Bass Drum
• 5 Gong
• 5 Almglocken
• 5 Temple Bells
• 3 Cowbell
• 2 Brake Drum
• Anvil
• Triangle
• Spring Coil
• Flute 1
• Flute 2
• Flute 3
• Piccolo
• Oboe 1
• Oboe 2
• English Horn
• Clarinet in Eb
• Clarinet 1 in Bb
• Clarinet 2 in Bb
• Clarinet 3 in Bb
• Bass Clarinet in Bb
• Bassoon 1
• Bassoon 2
• Contrabassoon
• Horn 1 in F
• Horn 2 in F
• Horn 3 in F
• Horn 4 in F
• Trumpet 1 in C
• Trumpet 2 in C
• Trumpet 3 in C
• Trumpet 4 in C
• Trombone 1
• Trombone 2
• Trombone 3
• Tuba
• Piano
• Celesta
• Percussion
• Marimba
• Vibraphone
• Chimes
• Tam-tam
• Claves
• Slap Stick