Wald for Ensemble was composed by Hans Abrahamsen in 2008-09. Co-commission by the Schönberg Ensemble and BBC for Birmingham Contemporary Music Group.Programme NoteWald is in a way a series of variations from the beginning of my woodwind quintet Walden (1978). This thematical idea is very simple - a rising call of a fourth and the response in other voices. This idea is repeated several times but because the call has a slower pulse than the responses the process leads to them changing order.In Walden I borrowed the title from the Americanphilosopher Henry David Thoreau who in the middle of the eighteenth century in a little wooden hermit house at the bank of the lake Walden pond wrote the book Walden of his life and time in the forests. Here he experimented living for two years in order to come closer to nature and to see if it was possible to live simply without all the unnecessary needs created by society. The book is filled with poetry but is also cutting and critical of society. In my piece Walden I tried to search for the same simplicity handling the most simple material but at the same time trying not to lose the poetry.Wald is a twin piece to Walden but also to my former piece Schnee.Robert Schumann wrote in 1848-49 a wonderful piano piece Waldszenen. He wrote this collection of short pieces with beautiful titles like Einsame Blumen Vogel als Prophet and also Jäger auf der Lauer just a few years before Thoreau wrote his book Walden. For them the forest is the magical romantic place that gives a spiritual insight to man but also from where we get our food through hunting. For me the forest still has this magical quality and Wald has scenes with a hunting horn that calls (I many years ago played the magical 'Waldhorn' and remember playing in the forest near my home) flocks of birds that when agitated take

This screamin’ arrangement features a blending of an eight-to-the-bar boogie woogie and Rumba in a classic big band setting. The saxes take the melody with some gritty plunger work in the brass to really give this chart some character. A hot tenor sax solo is followed by a swingin’ shout chorus that is sure to bring down the house! The showtime-style ending makes this the perfect chart to close your holiday concert. This one is hot!

Count Basie’s arrangers would often take a minimalist approach to their writing. The essential elements were a riff-based melody and a shout chorus interspersed with creative soloists. Back Bay Breeze makes use of that formula in an easygoing happily swinging way. A shout chorus with a Basie-style tag makes the perfect ending to this gem from Bryan Kidd former chief arranger with the D.C. Navy Band.

Consider this great Frank Mantooth original for your contest or festival repertoire. The opening trumpet/bone chorale is an excellent intro before the up-tempo samba beat takes over. Frank features a small combo of tenor trumpet and bone on the head which should give you plenty of options for your solo section. Powerful block scoring sets up your drummer for some hot fills throughout. This pro-sounding chart has very reasonable range demands. A festival winner!