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THE WEST POINT BAND’S WIND COMMISSIONING PROJECT IN CELEBRATION OF THE BICENTENNIAL OF THE UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY Matthew Carl Morse, B.A., M.A. Dissertation Prepared for the Degree of DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS May 2017 APPROVED: Eugene Migliaro Corporon, Major Professor Warren Henry, Committee Member Nicholas Enrico Williams, Committee Member Benjamin Brand, Director of Graduate Studies in the College of Music John Richmond, Dean of the College of Music Victor Prybutok, Vice Provost of the Toulouse Graduate School Morse, Matthew Carl. The West Point Band’s Wind Commissioning Project in Celebration of the Bicentennial of the United States Military Academy. Doctor of Musical Arts (Performance), May 2017, 193 pp., 8 tables, 30 musical examples, bibliography, 122 titles. The United States Military Academy Band, also known as the West Point Band is the oldest active band in the United States Army and the oldest unit at the United States Military Academy, and is considered to be one of the finest military musical organizations in the world. The band has also been instrumental in facilitating the creation of new works for wind band. As the commissioning of new music has been essential to the expansion of the wind band’s repertoire, several major commissioning projects were undertaken in the mid-twentieth century by various organizations, including the West Point Band, the Goldman Band in conjunction with the League of Composers and later the American Bandmasters Association, Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma, the American Wind Symphony, and the College Band Directors National Association. These commissioning projects and many others have contributed hosts of new quality works to the repertoire of the wind band. The West Point Band’s 1952 commissioning project celebrating the Sesquicentennial of the United States Military Academy was among the first of these mid-twentieth century commissioning projects to seek out prominent composers of the day and have them write works for wind band. The project contributed several seminal pieces to the wind band’s repertoire, including Morton Gould’s Symphony for Band: West Point. In 1996, as tribute to both the Academy and to the earlier commissioning project, the West Point Band sought to celebrate the Academy’s 2002 bicentennial in a similar fashion by commissioning well-known composers to contribute substantial wind works. These pieces would be premiered and recorded by the West Point Band over a number of years, including a gala Bicentennial Celebration concert at Carnegie Hall in March 2002. The purpose of this study is to create a consolidated written record of the wind music composed for the West Point Band as part of the band’s Bicentennial Wind Commissioning Project, and to describe the process and circumstances by which this music was created and premiered. The continuing development of a quality original repertoire is important to the wind band community as a whole, and commissioning composers to write wind band music is the primary means by which new music is acquired. By any account, the twenty-six works produced through the West Point Band’s Bicentennial Commissioning Project constitute a significant contribution to this repertoire. As this project and many of these pieces are not well known, it is the author’s intent to bring increased attention to this commissioning project and to this music. Copyright 2017 By Matthew Carl Morse ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS No project of this scale, academic or otherwise, is achieved without the help and support of a multitude of people. I am wholeheartedly grateful for the assistance and encouragement of my committee professors, past and present: Professor Eugene Migliaro Corporon, Dr. Nicholas Enrico Williams, Dr. Debbie Rohwer, and Dr. Warren Henry as I have completed this project. Thanks also to all my UNT professors, especially Professor Dennis Fisher and Dr. Brian Bowman. I must also thank all the composers who have so generously offered insight on their works and their experiences with the West Point Commissioning Project, Samuel Adler, Virginia Allen, James Barnes, Kirsten Benson Hampton – daughter of Warren Benson, Joseph Bertolozzi, Jerry Bilik, Nancy Bloomer Deussen, Timothy Broege, Larry Daehn, Alan Fletcher, Donald Grantham, Ira Hearshen, Quincy Hilliard, David Kechley, James Kessler, Anne McGinty, Stephen Melillo, Douglas Richard, Jack Stamp, Bert Truax, Joseph Turrin, Dan Welcher, and James Kimo Williams. Many thanks also to the West Point Band leadership, past and present, for their insight and for assistance and access to research materials, including Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) David Deitrick, Major (Retired) William Garlette, Colonel Andrew Esch, Command Sergeant Major James Mullins, and head librarian Master Sergeant Mike Reifenberg. Last but certainly not least, I must thank my family – my wife Joyce, and children Anthony and Jessica, for putting up with me being away for the three years I spent in Texas as a resident student at UNT. Your love and unfailing support has made it possible to for me to finally finish this process. I love you all very much – thank you! iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................................... vii LIST OF MUSICAL EXAMPLES ......................................................................................................... viii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1 Purpose of the Study........................................................................................................... 2 Research Methods .............................................................................................................. 3 A Brief Early History of the West Point Band ...................................................................... 6 Summary ........................................................................................................................... 10 CHAPTER 2. COMMISSIONS IN THE WIND BAND COMMUNITY ................................................... 12 Artistry and the West Point Band ..................................................................................... 14 The West Point Band’s Sesquicentennial Commissioning Project ................................... 15 Composers of the Sesquicentennial Celebration ............................................................. 17 State of Research .............................................................................................................. 18 CHAPTER 3. THE WEST POINT BAND’S BICENTENNIAL COMMISSIONING PROJECT .................... 23 The United States Military Academy Bicentennial Celebration ....................................... 24 Events of the Academy Bicentennial Celebration ............................................................ 25 Concept of the Commissioning Project ............................................................................ 28 Coordination ..................................................................................................................... 29 List of Composers and Commissioned Works................................................................... 32 Format for Overview of each Commissioned Work ......................................................... 36 CHAPTER 4. COMPOSERS AND COMMISSIONED WORKS PREMIERED BETWEEN 1996 AND 1999 ....................................................................................................................................................... 38 James Kessler – Hudson River Rhapsody .......................................................................... 38 Samuel Adler – Dawn to Glory .......................................................................................... 42 Robert Starer – Fantasy on “When Johnny Comes Marching Home” .............................. 46 Ira Hearshen – Fantasia on Aura Lee “The Army Blue” .................................................... 50 iv James Kimo Williams – Buffalo Soldiers ............................................................................ 54 CHAPTER 5. COMPOSERS AND COMMISSIONED WORKS PREMIERED IN 2000 ........................... 59 David Kechley – Restless Birds before the Dark Moon ..................................................... 59 Jerry Bilik – The Line .......................................................................................................... 63 Dan Welcher – Perpetual Song ......................................................................................... 67 Eric Ewazen – Legacy Symphony ...................................................................................... 71 CHAPTER 6. COMPOSERS AND COMMISSIONED WORKS PREMIERED IN 2001 ........................... 74 Stephen Melillo – In a Cause Called “Glorious” ................................................................ 74 Joseph Bertolozzi – The Contemplation of Bravery .......................................................... 78 Thomas Duffy – Overture 1776 ......................................................................................... 83 Timothy Broege – Geography of the Dream (Originally titled Three Pieces for American Band (Set No. 3)) ..............................................................................................................
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