Concerto for Wind Ensemble

ensemble: wind ensemble (exact instrumentation below)
duration: 18 minutes
grade: 6
written: 2022 - 2023
written for: Indiana University Wind Ensemble; Rodney Dorsey, director
premiere: April 11, 2023; Bloomington, IN

performers: Indiana University Wind Ensemble; Rodney Dorsey, conductor

PROGRAM NOTE:

I. Dezinformatsiya
II. Echo Chamber
III. Serenity

“You must believe me because I have the habit—it is the system of my life—of always and everywhere saying the truth”
— Benito Mussolini (1924)

“The result of a consistent and total substitution of lies for factual truth is not that the lies will now be accepted as truth, and the truth be defamed as lies, but that the sense by which we take our bearings in the real world is being destroyed.”
— Hannah Arendt (1954)

A “concerto” for orchestra, or in this case wind ensemble, is a bit of a paradox. Historically, the orchestra should act as a sort of Greek chorus to a concerto soloist; commenting on the action of the drama or, in the case of the 20th century, purposely standing in the way and antagonizing the soloist. But what is the relationship when the accompanying body itself becomes the soloist, if that is even the right word? Should one think of the orchestra as dozens of individual soloists or is it a chance to show off the virtuoso ability of a single, unified ensemble? In the case of my Concerto for Wind Ensemble the answer is both; one way of looking at the form eventually informs the other.

The impetus for this piece sprang from my increasing concern about the ways in which we acquire information off the internet and how, in turn, lies, misinformation, and conspiracy theories have taken over nearly every aspect of our society. With almost constant access to the internet and social media we have, as the New Yorker staff writer Andrew Marantz put it after the January 6, 2021 insurrection, “nearly unfettered access to the most powerful communication tool in human history.” One would assume that equal access to this massive communication tool would be the very definition of democracy in action, but as we have all seen, algorithms have amplified a torrent of dangerous and in many cases deadly lies and conspiracy theories which have enveloped our world. The question lingers: can democracies survive an unregulated internet?

In the case of this piece, I thought of the “concerto for wind ensemble” format as a kind of analog to the spread of disinformation: a small musical idea begins on the individual, solo level, but quickly begins to spread and take over a group. Thus, the work is both about the numerous soloists on stage and the unified whole of the wind ensemble. It’s about what happens when one solo thread evolves and leads to an overwhelmingly dangerous mass movement.

Instrumentation:

piccolo — 4 flutes (1.2 doubling picc. 2.3) — 2 oboes — english horn
2 bassoons — contrabassoon
4 Bb clarinets — bass clarinet — contrabass clarinet
2 alto saxophones — tenor saxophone — baritone saxophone

4 F horns — 4 C trumpets — 2 trombones — bass trombone — tuba

double bass (with low C string or extension)
piano — harp

timpani
percussion (4 players)
I. 2 woodblocks, vibraphone, marimba, lion’s roar
II. aluminum foil (12”x 12” square sheet), 3 suspended cymbals (high, med., low), bongos, 4 tom-toms (very high, med. low, very low), crotales
III. 3 temple blocks, baking tray, oil barrel (or any large metal barrel), hi-hat, tam-tam (shared with perc. 4)
IV. bass drum, tam-tam (shared with perc. 3), 4 tuned gongs (E4, F#4, A4, B4)

antiphonal group 1 (left): trombone (3), percussion (5) (small snare drum)
antiphonal group 2 (right): trombone (4), percussion (6) (medium thundersheet)