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Robert Langenfeld Compositions

Concerto for Wind Ensemble

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  • Year

    2017
  • Difficulty

    Advanced
  • Duration

    16:00 min
  • Perusal Score

    View/Download
Concerto for Wind Ensemble

$150.00  -  Digital Score and Parts

SKU: CW0021

“Concerto for Wind Ensemble” is a 3 movement piece that follows concerto form (fast-slow-fastest). The piece is meant to be played attacca, meaning all three movements are played without break in between. “Concert for Wind Ensemble” is not meant to be a programmatic piece. Each movement has no name. It’s left up to the audience and the performers to interpret the message of the piece.

History

In February of 2016, my piece “Spark!” was premiered by the St. Louis Wind Symphony. I was floored by the quality of musicianship of the group. In the following months Tom Poshak and I started talks about writing a concerto for solo French Horn and Wind Ensemble. As our discussions continued, another idea was proposed. Tom had suggested I write a piece that would feature various groups in the ensemble throughout. I proposed the idea of a concerto for wind ensemble where the entire ensemble is treated as the soloist. They were on board for it. The idea was this piece would be the highlight of their 2017-2018 season “One of our own” where each concert would feature someone from the group. The new work would be premiered in the March 2018 concert as the culmination of their 20th anniversary season.

The following November of 2016, I sat down and began writing. The first real material emerged late that month and I had the first movement completed by early January. I wanted to keep Tom update on the progress, so I demoed the the first movement for him at the Missouri Music Educators Association conference in January of 2017. I’ll never forget the big smile on his face as listened to the first movement and parts of the second movement. I knew I was on the right track. I finished the second movement in mid March. Now came the all important 3rd movement. For some reason I could not settle on what I wanted the movement to be for weeks. I took a week off from writing. That week long break did the trick. I finished the first rough draft of the movement on May 8th, 2017 and finished the principle composing on May 22nd, 2017.

Performance Notes

This piece is meant to be played 1 person per part, however doubling is allowed in some instances. There are some split octave sections. If you are high brass/woodwind the upper octave is preferred. If you are a low brass/woodwind, the lower octave is preferred.

The tempo is very strict especially in the last movement. The piece should very much stick to that and not deviate in any way.

There is some prepared piano in movement 2. A large metal plate or chain is needed for this along with a brass mallet (like the kind used for glockenspiel). Make sure to have something soft to set it on when not in use.

For the low piano tremolos, place right hand on lowest black keys, and left hand on lowest white keys with pedal down. If further clarification is needed on this, Robert can provide a video.

The piece requires a waterphone. This cannot be excluded in any way. Many colleges and universities have these and should be available to rent or borrow.

Erractica

There are so many people that helped make this piece possible. I wanted to make sure they were properly recognized.

Tom Poshak for allowing me to write for his group. He has been a great champion for my music and I look forward to many more projects with him.

Steven Bryant for his guidance during the composition process. He’s been an amazing mentor and a great friend.

My two cats, Lulu and Darius. I couldn’t ask for two better composing partners. Thank you for keeping me company and putting up with the midi piccolos.

To my wife Arrianne. For putting up with my late nights, and many hours that I’ve spent on this piece. There were many times when I started doubting what I was writing but you reassured me I was heading in the right direction. I’ve always said you were the spark of inspiration in my life and continue to do so.

Finally, this piece is dedicated in loving memory of my dog Maggie who passed days after I finished this piece. A perfect dog for 14 years. You were there for some of my lowest points in my life and the highest points as well. Thank you for staying a faithful companion.

Ensembles:   Concert Band

Genres:   Concerto

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