SKU: PR.165000970

ISBN 9781491100462. UPC: 680160626717. 9x12 inches.

Commissione d by a consortium of 20 high school and university bands coordinated by Scott Hanna of the University of Texas at Austin, Downshifting is inspired by Welcher’s joy of bicycle riding. Welcher explains in the program note: When I decided to write a piece for band that was basically entertaining and uplifting, it made perfect sense to call it Downshifting... With three gears on the front sprocket and seven on the rear, it’s possible to keep one’s legs going at a constant speed (for me, q = 126) while the bike itself may be moving very slowly or very quickly. I determined to capitalize on this in writing Downshifting, which keeps the same mathematical inner pulse, ‘shifting’ (with a ratchet) as the terrain changes..
One of the joys of life for me is riding my 21-speed bicycle.  As a basically non-athletic person who nonetheless likes to stay in shape, I have found that riding my bike provides just the exercise I need.  The workout is strenuous, but pleasant—and the infinite variety of scenery I pass keeps me alert and wide awake.  When I decided to write a piece for band that was basically entertaining and uplifting, it made perfect sense to call it Downshifting.With three gears on the front sprocket and seven on the rear, it’s possible to keep ones legs going at a constant speed (for me, that’s 126 to the quarter note) while the bike itself may be moving very slowly or very quickly.  I determined to capitalize on this in writing the music, which manages to keep the same mathematical inner pulse, “shifting” (with a ratchet) as the terrain changes.  So Downshifting begins with that steady pulse, on a grid of eighth notes in 2/4 to propel the little vehicle forward.  There’s a joyous little tune in our heads as we begin our ride.  As the initial thrill of riding on the flat gives way to monotony, we stay in that pulse for the first minute or so of the ride.  Then, as the first hill becomes visible, we shift the bike down: even though the eighths are equal, the pulse feels slower (and we’re now in 6/8 time).  Ultimately the compound meter shifts again as the climb begins, and we’re now plodding doggedly up the hill.  (The music reflects all of these changes, with subtitles such as “Working harder—Seeing the climb, ahead”, “Steady and committed…the climb begins!”, “Straining against the grade”, etc.).There are two hills, and two long climbs (but in different keys, reflecting the change in scenery).  When at last the summit of the second hill is reached (“Flying, Over the Top”), we coast at last down the other side at breakneck speed.  The initial joyous melody returns, but now in a spread-out coasting pulse.  At the end of the ride, we slow to a stop—then take one last sprint (shifting five times in the process) in order to end on a biker’s high.Downshifting was commissioned by a consortium of fourteen high school and college bands, overseen by my longtime colleague at the University of Texas, Scott Hanna.  The piece is dedicated to him (and to all bicycle enthusiasts).

SKU: CF.SPS78

ISBN 9781491152553. UPC: 680160910052. Key: Bb major.

Festival March is presented in a new edition arranged by Richard Summers. It is a tour de force composition for advanced bands and hearkens back to a bygone era during the golden age of the band movement. Directors and students will hear operatic music from composer Victor Herbert who is best known for his Christmas classic, Toyland. This is a richly scored masterpiece that deserves to return to standard status in concert band repertoire. We are proud to bring you this new setting of this cherished classic.
Festival March by Victor Herbert was written for the Pittsburgh Symphony and first performed under Herbert’s direction in Chicago on Dec. 9, 1901 celebrating the 12th anniversary of Chicago’s Auditorium Theatre. Also known as the Auditorium Festival March, he included it many times for programs of a festival nature. The main theme Auld Lang Syne, a famous Scottish folk song, is incorporated many times along with brass fanfares, interludes and march melodies. This band arrangement is very similar to the original orchestral composition. The missing string parts, the addition of the saxophone section and other band instruments, editing of the superimposed triplets against sixteenth notes, to one or the other, and articulations suitable for the band, were major challenges. The style of early twentieth-century American music is captured here. This arrangement will give band musicians access to a fine piece of music that could only be appreciated by orchestra musicians up to now. Although suitable for many occasions, this piece is a great way to begin or end a December holiday concert.  Notes to the ConductorVictor Herbert’s music can be interpreted in a romantic style, which is the conductor’s responsibility to read in nuance and musicality. The beginning and other triple-tonguing sections of this piece have a March of the Toys quality to it.  The interludes and Auld Lang Syne sections are legato and musical. The March sections can also be shaped musically.About the ComposerVictor Herbert was born in Ireland in 1861 and raised in Germany. When he moved to America in 1886, he joined the Metropolitan Opera as principal cellist and eventually composed many works including forty-three operettas on Broadway from the 1890s to World War I, including Naughty Marietta and Babes in Toyland. Victor Herbert conducted the Pittsburgh Symphony from 1898 to 1904 and then was the conductor of his own Victor Herbert Orchestra. He formed ASCAP with a group of composers in 1914 and was the director until his death in 1924. Among his thirty-one compositions for orchestra, Festival March was a favorite of his and was eventually published by Carl Fischer Music.  .

SKU: PR.466000470

UPC: 680160099405. 11 x 17 inches.

This is the second incarnation of a work I first composed in 1994 for symphonic wind ensemble. The earlier version was intended to be the summation of three-part suite, each part being named for a different national park in the Western United States. This orchestral version, commissioned in 1999 by the Utah Symphony and dedicated to the memory of Aaron Copland, is more than a re-scoring of the earlier piece; it is a re-thinking of all its elements. Zion is a place with unrivaled natural grandeur, being a sort of huge box canyon in which the traveler is constantly overwhelmed by towering rock walls on every side of him -- but it is also a place with a human history, having been inhabited by several tribes of native Americans before the arrival of the Mormon settlers in the mid-19th century. By the time the Mormons reached Utah, they had been driven all the way from New York State through Ohio and, with tragic losses, through Missouri. They saw Utah in general as a place nobody wanted, but they were nonetheless determined to keep it to themselves. Although Zion Canyon was never a Mormon Stronghold, the people who reached it and claimed it (and gave it its present name) had been through extreme trials. It is the religious fervor of these persecuted people that I was able to draw upon in creating Zion as a piece of music. There are two quoted hymns in the work: Zion's Walls (which Aaron Copland adapted to his own purposes in both his Old American Songs and the opera The Tender Land) and Zion's Security, which I found in the same volume in which Copland found Zion's Walls -- that inexhaustible storehouse of 19th-century hymnody called The Sacred Harp. My work opens with a three-verse setting of Zion's Security, a stern tune in F-sharp minor which is full of resolve. (The words of this hymn are resolute and strong, rallying the faithful to be firm, and describing the city of our God they hope to establish). This melody alternates with a fanfare tune, whose origins will be revealed in later music, until the second half of the piece begins: a driving rhythmic ostinato based on a 3/4-4/4 alternating meter scheme. This pauses at its height to restate Zion's Security one more time, in a rather obscure setting surrounded by freely shifting patterns in the flutes, clarinets, and percussion -- until the sun warms the ground sufficiently for the second hymn to appear. Zion's Walls is set in 7/8, unlike Copland's 9/8-6/8 meters (the original is quite strange, and doesn't really fit any constant meter), and is introduced by a warm horn solo. The two hymns vie for attention from here to the end of the piece, with the glowingly optimistic Zion's Walls finally achieving prominence. The work ends with a sense of triumph.

SKU: PR.416410830

UPC: 680160090686.

SKU: PR.16500097F

ISBN 9781491100479. UPC: 680160626724. 9x12 inches.

Commissione d by a consortium of 20 high school and university bands coordinated by Scott Hanna of the University of Texas at Austin, Downshifting is inspired by Welcher’s joy of bicycle riding. Welcher explains in the program note: When I decided to write a piece for band that was basically entertaining and uplifting, it made perfect sense to call it Downshifting... With three gears on the front sprocket and seven on the rear, it’s possible to keep one’s legs going at a constant speed (for me, q = 126) while the bike itself may be moving very slowly or very quickly. I determined to capitalize on this in writing Downshifting, which keeps the same mathematical inner pulse, ‘shifting’ (with a ratchet) as the terrain changes..

SKU: MH.1-59913-078-5

ISBN 9781599130781.

Alle gro Brillante is the first movement of Dragonland for band. The first performance (under the original title, A Short Symphony) was given by the L.E. Dieruff High School Concert Band, conducted by Raymond S. Becker, Jr., on April 21, 1978. The work was subsequently revised, and first performed in its new version by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Symphony Band, conducted by Donald S. George, on November 23rd, 1980. Allegro Brillante is the first movement of four. The music is almost profligate in its tunefulness, quick to change tack and tempo, and will benefit from an interpretation of headstrong abandon. Ensemble instrumentation: 1 Piccolo, 7 Flute I-II, 2 Oboe I-II, 2 Bassoon I-II, 1 Eb Clarinet, 4 Bb Clarinet I, 4 Bb Clarinet II, 4 Bb Clarinet III, 2 Eb Alto Clarinet, 2 Eb Bass Clarinet, 2 Eb Contra Alto Clarinet, 2 Eb Alto Saxophone I, 2 Eb Alto Saxophone II, 2 Bb Tenor Saxophone, 1 Eb Baritone Saxophone, 2 Bb Cornet I, 4 Bb Cornet II-III, 2 Bb Trumpet I-II, 2 F Horn I-II, 2 F Horn III-IV, 2 Trombone I, 4 Trombone II-III, 3 Euphonium B.C., 2 Euphonium T.C., 6 Tuba, 2 String Bass, 1 Timpani, 1 Percussion I, 2 Percussion II, 2 Percussion III, 1 Percussion IV, 2 Percussion V.

SKU: MH.1-59913-079-3

ISBN 9781599130798.

Alle gro Brillante is the first movement of Dragonland for band. The first performance (under the original title, A Short Symphony) was given by the L.E. Dieruff High School Concert Band, conducted by Raymond S. Becker, Jr., on April 21, 1978. The work was subsequently revised, and first performed in its new version by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Symphony Band, conducted by Donald S. George, on November 23rd, 1980. Allegro Brillante is the first movement of four. The music is almost profligate in its tunefulness, quick to change tack and tempo, and will benefit from an interpretation of headstrong abandon. Ensemble instrumentation: 1 Piccolo, 7 Flute I-II, 2 Oboe I-II, 2 Bassoon I-II, 1 Eb Clarinet, 4 Bb Clarinet I, 4 Bb Clarinet II, 4 Bb Clarinet III, 2 Eb Alto Clarinet, 2 Eb Bass Clarinet, 2 Eb Contra Alto Clarinet, 2 Eb Alto Saxophone I, 2 Eb Alto Saxophone II, 2 Bb Tenor Saxophone, 1 Eb Baritone Saxophone, 2 Bb Cornet I, 4 Bb Cornet II-III, 2 Bb Trumpet I-II, 2 F Horn I-II, 2 F Horn III-IV, 2 Trombone I, 4 Trombone II-III, 3 Euphonium B.C., 2 Euphonium T.C., 6 Tuba, 2 String Bass, 1 Timpani, 1 Percussion I, 2 Percussion II, 2 Percussion III, 1 Percussion IV, 2 Percussion V.

SKU: HL.367895

ISBN 9781705140383. UPC: 840126966749. 8.5x14.25x0.446 inches.

Premiere: Harry Sargous, oboe, Midland Symphony Orchestra (MI), Leon Gregorian conducting, Midland, MI, November 7, 1987. Oboe part and Piano Reduction may be purchased via Subito Music.