Found Sounds
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Found Sounds UNCG Musicology Journal Volume 1 Issue 1 Fall 2015 Staff EditorinChief Enoch Robbins Assistant Editors Nicole Kuker Kelly Norris Editors Sara Horton Janine Neprud Faculty Advisor Dr. Elizabeth Keathley Table of Contents Fennell’s Vision: The ‘Wind Ensemble’ Concept Thomas Breeden Nobuo Uematsu: The Man behind the Music of Final Fantasy Mario Castillo The Shape of Japanese Music Before, During, and After the Meiji Restoration Christopher Girgenti FENNELL’S VISION: THE ‘WIND ENSEMBLE’ CONCEPT Thomas Breeden ABSTRACT: This paper will explore the influence and legacy of Frederick Fennell and his vision of the wind ensemble concept. It seeks to illuminate the contributions of this landmark figure in the history of ensembles of wind instruments in regards to instrumentation, repertoire, nomenclature, and popularity. The paper will begin with an exploration of the history of the wind band from early Middle Ages itinerant groups to the professional bands directed by the likes of Patrick Gilmore and John Philip Sousa, and finally to the conception and creation of the Eastman Wind Ensemble. It will include Fennell’s own thoughts and writings on the wind ensemble and reference the compositions commissioned and the recordings produced by Fennell and the Eastman Wind Ensemble. Lastly, it will conclude with a summation of Fennell’s influence and legacy through his ideas, writings, recordings, conducting, and advocacy of the wind ensemble concept. FENNELL’S VISION: THE ‘WIND ENSEMBLE’ CONCEPT Thomas Breeden Ensembles of wind musicians began in the Middle Ages as itinerant bands composed of troubadours and other traveling musicians, performing from town to town for whoever would 1 stop and listen. These ragtag groups existed as the only ones of their kind until the military and 2 aristocracy began to establish their own private wind bands, especially in Germany. It was not until the fifteenth century that there were groups that performed regular concerts, and the modern 3 idea of a “band” was established. The “band,” however, continued to take a back seat to the orchestra during this time. It wasn’t until Mozart began to write his wind serenades that an ensemble of winds took on a life of its own; moving from a source of novelty for courtly dances or a source of cheap entertainment 4 to climbing the ranks of musical literature to join the top orchestral works. Other composers, such as Haydn, Beethoven, Berlioz, and Wagner, among others, followed Mozart’s lead in writing for wind instruments and incorporated them into their symphonies, concertos, and other major works. Early works for wind bands began to emerge in the 1800s, which was partially due to 5 improvements in instrument technologies , but also in the adaptation and recognition by major composers to this upandcoming musical ensemble. Military bands became more common in the United States and the United Kingdom, including the establishment of the U.S. Marine Band in 1 Foster, Robert E, Wind Bands of the World: Chronicle of a Cherished Tradition (Delray Beach, FL: Meredith Music Publications), 1. 2 Ibid., 2. 3 Whitwell, David, A Concise History of the Wind Band (Austin, TX: Whitwell Publishing), 25. 4 Fennell, Frederick, Time and the Winds. (Kenosha, WI: G. Leblanc Company), 1011. 5 Ibid., 22. 6 1798, the longest functioning band in American history. This increasing recognition of wind 7 music and military bands, and the modernization of wind instruments by 1850 , paved the way for the professional bands directed by the likes of Patrick Gilmore and John Philip Sousa, famed bandleaders of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Patrick Gilmore was the conductor and bandleader of the Boston Brass Band in Charlestown, Boston, Massachusetts. In 1859, he took over the Boston Brigade Band which he promptly renamed the “Gilmore Band” and transformed into the most popular and successful professional band in United States history until that point. His band played from a “large library 8 of music of every kind, from serious to popular,” purchased by Gilmore. Gilmore set the precedent for an audiencefocused approach to the profession of band leading and conducting. He was charismatic, energetic, and knew what the public wanted to hear, staging popular Fourth of July concerts, promenade concerts based on those from England, and 9 tours throughout America during the Civil War and through Europe after the war. Gilmore brought “visibility and exposure” to the world of the wind band, and was a prominent influence 10 in increasing the number of bands and bandleaders springing up around the country. One of these bandleaders, John Philip Sousa, followed closely in Gilmore’s footsteps, 11 beginning his band in 1892—the year Gilmore passed away. Sousa emphasized the same precision and talent of musicians in his bands, but wanted to “refine” the sound of the band by 6 Ibid., 37. 7 Fennell, Time and the Winds, 22. 8 Foster, 60. 9 Ibid., 61. 10Ibid., 90. 11Ibid., 94. Breeden 2 12 changing its instrumentation. He, like Gilmore before him, led many successful tours throughout the country, playing “what people wanted to hear,” which mainly included transcriptions of orchestral works, arrangements of popular tunes, and—of course—his famous 13 marches. Sousa advocated for the importance of crafting highquality transcriptions for the wind band, a trait that continued in one of his followers, Albert Austin Harding. Despite the success these bands enjoyed, their financial stability depended on audiences coming to hear them perform on tour. Performance opportunities began to disappear as their prime venues, amusement parks and other popular attractions of the late 1800s and early 1900s, lost business due to other forms of entertainment: the emerging styles of jazz and dance music, new radio programming and increasing numbers of family road trips made possible by the emerging automobile market. People were no longer as interested in going to hear band music, 14 and by World War I professional bands had nearly disappeared. After World War I, bandleaders and music education advocates took advantage of the mass production technologies made available to military bands for instruments and began to formulate the idea of a nationwide public school band program. Instrument manufacturers and music publishing companies were quick to see the potential in this endeavor, and immediately 15 supported it. This collaboration between instrument manufacturers, music publishers, and enthusiastic educators set up school band programs with a solid foundation for success. Early programs offered free instruction to students and a greater availability of higherquality instruments. The 12 Fennell, Time and the Winds, 39. 13 Foster, 94. 14 Fennell, Time and the Winds, 40. 15 Ibid., 37. Breeden 3 first school band contest was held in Chicago in 1923, which helped to institute a “contest 16 repertoire,” which was one of the earliest examples of a cohesive repertoire for the wind band. Music camps such as the National Music Camp (now Interlochen) and marching band programs in major universities also contributed to the increase in band music education. Albert Austin Harding, aforementioned follower of John Philip Sousa, became the founding director of the University of Illinois band program, and expanded the concert band to the largest instrumentation the ensemble had ever had. Harding set the model for the collegiate bands of the time. In Fennell’s paraphrase: “the beginning and end of the movement may be seen 17 in the work of Harding himself.” The other universities that followed Harding’s example included the University of Wisconsin, Northwestern University, Oberlin College, University of 18 Michigan, and—most importantly for the scope of this paper—the Eastman School of Music. The Eastman School was founded at the University of Rochester, New York, in 1921 by Joseph E. Maddy using contributions by Eastman Kodak founder George Eastman. In 1924, Howard Hanson joined the School as director and would serve to be an influential force on Eastman’s 1939 hire: a young Frederick Fennell. Frederick Fennell arrived at the Eastman School of Music in 1939, and quickly became an important landmark in the wind band lineage, alongside Gilmore, Sousa, Edwin Franko Goldman, and A.A. Harding. He introduced a new conception of the concert band that was much smaller and gave precedence to the composer and the development of a highquality repertoire: 16 Ibid., 46. 17 Fennell, Time and the Winds, 50. 18 Ibid., 49. Breeden 4 “The Wind Ensemble.” In his March 1953 article in the American Music Teacher, Fennell begins with a description of his first experience with this type of ensemble: “In the Winter of 1951, an unusual concert of music for wind instruments was performed at the Eastman School of Music under the writer’s direction…The wonderful affect this concert had upon the discriminating audience is a pleasure to recall, as is the reaction of 19 the players which was positive, articulate, and enthusiastic in the extreme.” Fennell marks this moment as the direct precursor to “the establishment in the fall of 20 1952 of the Eastman Wind Ensemble.” The following summer, Fennell sent “a mimeographed letter to approximately 400 composers in all parts of the world telling them of our [The Eastman 21 School of Music’s] plan to establish an ensemble of the following instrumentation:” Woodwinds Two flutes and piccolo Two oboes and English horn Two bassoons and contrabassoon One Eb clarinet Eight Bb clarinets, or A clarinets divided in any manner desired or fewer in number if so desired One Eb alto clarinet One Bb bass clarinet Choir of saxophones – two alto Eb, tenor Bb, baritone Eb Brass Three cornets in Bb Two trumpets in Bb or five trumpets in Bb Four horns Two euphoniums (bass clef) Three trombones One Eb tuba One BBb tuba or two BBb tubas if desired One string bass Other instruments 19 Fennell, Frederick, “The Wind Ensemble” American Music Teacher 2, no.