Frank L. Battisti - The New Winds of Change: The Evolution of the Contemporary American Wind Band/Ensemble and Its Music

The NEW Winds of Change

The Evolution of the Contemporary American Wind Band/Ensemble and Its Music

FRANK L. BATTISTI

Published by

Meredith Music Publications

a division of G.W. Music, Inc.

1584 Estuary Trail, Delray Beach, Florida 33483

http://www.meredithmusic.com

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Copyright 2018 MEREDITH MUSIC PUBLICATIONS

International Copyright Secured All Rights Reserved

First Edition

September 2018

Cover image by Dorothy Gaziano/Shutterstock.com

EPUB ISBN: 978-1-57463-474-7

Print ISBN: 978-1-57463-473-0

To Charlotte,

my love and companion on our journey together.

Foreword

Why are you reading this book? Are you a researcher, a student, a wind band historian, or someone with the luxury of reading this fascinating chronology purely for pleasure? This book is full of valuable information tracking the progression of the wind band from its roots in the sixteenth century to the second decade of the twenty-first century, and identifies the movements important personnelcomposers, conductors, pioneering pedagogues, researchers, and commissioning bodies; and wind band/ensemble associations and organizations. The New Winds of Change is an update of the two earlier publications The Winds of Change and Winds of Change II . The latter third of this most recent edition is all new material, with lists of the premieres and commissions that fomented the creative milieu of the last two decades. Frank Battisti has written the perfect hybrid of a research publication and an historical read. Feel free to use the extensive index to cherry-pick data and to track down the who, what, when, and where of all things wind band; read it from the beginning and reflect on the long centuries of band development and the amazing explosion of activities in the last fifty years. What an amazing timeline, stretching from the vellum of Gabrieli to the airwaves of NPRs Composer Datebook!

In my Forwardits not a typo, its an imperative to Frank Battistis 1996 The Twentieth-Century American Wind Band/Ensemble: History, Development, and Literature , I asked readers to consider where their own experiences intersected with events outlined in the twentieth-century wind band/ensemble history. Now, twenty-two years later, most readers in the band business, including students, will have a personal connection with many of the things and people discussed in this book. Indeed, when I read the sections about the conventions and premieres that I had attended, I had an unexpected visceral response! I recalled who I sat with at the premiere of John Coriglianos settings of Bob Dylans poems, remembered the smell of the room and the electricity in the air, and how I sat weepy eyed as it ended. Frank Battistis narrative is a kind of historical communal diary, in that so many of us share personal connections and involvement with many of the events that he chronicles. This latest volume also serves as a kind of proceedings for the many professional organizations identified within; there is great detail about the wind band/ensemble pieces that were presented at their national meetingsdetails that identify several composers at their beginnings who have more recently come into great prominence.

So delve in. And be inspired. And maybe, with hard work and good fortune, you may find your name and successes in the index of Frank Battistis next book on the wind band/ensemble world of the third and fourth decades of the twenty-first century!

Thomas C. Duffy

New Haven, Connecticut

June 20, 2018

Acknowledgments

I am deeply indebted to many people who have helped me in the writing of The NEW Winds of Change . The individuals below furnished me with information and numerous documents that were needed to trace and write about the development and evolution of the American wind band/ensemble, especially about its development during the last decade and a half (20002015). I thank all of them for their generous help and assistance.

Glen Adsit, William L. Berz, Marcellus B. Brown, Brendan Caldwell, Thomas Caneva, Scott Casagrande, Richard Clary, Patricia Cornett, Paula Crider, Steven Davis, Thomas Duffy, Thomas Dvorak, Richard L. Floyd, Robert M. Floyd, Lowell E. Graham, Roby George, Michael Haithcock, Frederick Harris, Felix Hauswirth, Paula Holcomb, William V. Johnson, Jerry Junkin, Brian Lamb, Robert Margolis, Stephen C. Massey, Linda Moorhouse, Gabe Musella, Andrew Pease, Charles Peltz, Stephen Peterson, Nikk Pilato, Paul Popiel, Malcolm W. Rowell, Scott Rush, Timothy Salzman, Mark Scatterday, Mary Schneider, Kevin Sedatole, Scott Stewart, Kerry Taylor, Mallory Thompson, Cynthia Johnston Turner, Jess Turner, Thomas E. Verrier, David A. Waybright, Matthew Westgate, Chris David Westover, and Chris Wilhjelm.

I also wish to express special thanks and gratitude to five other people.

Thomas Duffy and I have been friends and colleagues for many years. In 1995 Tom penned a wonderful Foreword for my first book , The Twentieth Century American Wind Band/Ensemble . Responding to my request to write the Foreword for this book, Tom created a brilliant and insightful Foreword that graces the pages of this book. Molte grazie , Tom!

Garwood Whaley is president of Meredith Music Publications. We have known each other since 1995 when he published my first book. During the two decades we have worked together, Gar has been a constant source of support and encouragement for which I am most grateful and appreciative.

Russ Girsbergers contributions to the creation of this book are immense. He has helped and accompanied me through three drafts of the book, researched and discovered information I needed but couldnt find, wrote the informative end notes, and compiled the books extensive and comprehensive index. Without his many contributions this book could not have been written. He is truly the indispensable person. I extend to him my deepest appreciation and gratitudeRuss, you are the best!

The books design and layout artist is Shawn Girsberger. Shawn and I have worked together on all of my books. She is a dedicated professional and wonderful artist whose work I greatly appreciate.

And finally, I thank Charlotte, my wonderful wife of 63 years, for her patience in enduring many lonely days and evenings when I was down the hall writing this book. For thisbut not for this alonethis book is dedicated to her.

Frank Battisti

Leverett, Massachusetts

July 9, 2018

Introduction

The historical timeline followed in The NEW Winds of Change is the same as that followed in the original version of the book but extended to include the first two decades of the twenty-first century (through 2015). In the Preface of the first edition of The Winds of Change I wrote, I have rowed over the great ocean of wind band/ensemble material and information accumulated over my 48-year career, dropped a bucket into it and brought to the surface items and treasures that hopefully reveal the growth and development of the American Wind Band/Ensemble in the twentieth century. At the beginning of the twentieth century the wind band was primarily an organization providing music for entertainment purposes and/or civic/public functions/celebrations. By centurys end the contemporary American wind band/ensemble had developed into a viable expressive musical medium with an increased presence in the professional artistic musical world. This also describes what I have done in The NEW Winds of Change but with two exceptions: 1. I have accumulated materials and information for over 65 years (instead of 48), and 2. the contemporary American wind band/ensemble, in addition to continuing to develop as a viable expressive artistic medium, is also striving to increase its relevance in a rapidly changing and diversified society.