Preston Thomas

Conducting 518
Originally: February 20, 2018
Updated: March 20, 2018
Literature Review

Concert/Style Opener Ballad Novelty Biggie Closer

1 Fanfare for At Waters Selections Pictures at an Foiled Again
the Common Edge by from Moana Exhibition by Jack
Man Gary Gilroy arranged by arranged by Wilds
arranged by Jay Bocook Sweeny
Longfield
2 Sound Nettleton Instant The Dark Bolero
Innovations arranged by Concert by Waters by Matt arranged by
and Fanfare Johnnie Harold Conaway Bocook
by Robert Vinson Walters
Sheldon
3 Gazebo Evening At A Legend Galop
Fanfare by Song Dixieland arranged by arranged by
Chris Donze arranged by Jazz Funeral Ralph Hultgren Hunsberger
Shelley by Jared
Hanson Spears
4 Drive by Again We Extra Extra! Portraits by Burn by
Patrick Rise by John By Daniel Jim Colonna Ronald
Roszell Pasternak Moore Barrett
5 Moving at The Hearts Star Wars; Salvation is Undertow by
the speed of Reflection The Force Created/Awake John Mackey
sound by by Daniel Awakens arranged by
Mark Lortz Elder Suite Housenecht
arranged by
Jay Bocook

The reason I chose Drive! by Patrick Roszell as my opener is because I thought that the
intro to the piece was a great attention grabber for the audience. The rest of the piece always
feels like it is leading to something which I thought would be great for an opener because what
you are leading to is the rest of the concert. This piece is great for the woodwinds to learn how to
play busy figures while still being in the background. For the brass, this piece really allows them
to focus on making themselves be a part of the atmosphere instead of the main instrument. This
piece does require confident and talented horns as their part consists of a lot of rips and solo
material.
The reason I chose Again We Rise by John Pasternak as a ballad is because it features the
woodwinds throughout with their ability to play very dynamic swells. This piece creates an
environment that allows percussion to fit their sound into the ensembles atmosphere (mallet
selection). This piece is great for the audience because they can feel the tension and release
throughout the piece with all its suspensions and resolutions in both chord tones and timing.
The reason I chose Extra Extra! by Daniel Moore as the novelty piece is because it is a
piece that you can only smile when listening to it. You can really hear how Moore has infused
this piece with the classic sound of the newspaper era. What is great about this piece is that it
allows every section to be important in some way. What I like most about this piece is that when
there is a shift in tone/style/texture you can tell what part of the newspaper you are reading. You
can hear when you change to the comic section or sports, or the headlines. Each movement is
distinct to keep the audience and players engaged.
The reason I chose Portraits by Jim Colonna for my Biggie is because it is a multi-
movement work that has a fanfare opening movement, graceful second movement, and a fast-
final movement. This piece allows the ensemble great chances to work on tuning with the use of
a lot of added tones to the major or minor chords. The third movement focuses on being able to
play your own part and listen to another. A lot of the third movement has a countermelody that
runs with the melody but is different enough to be its own melody. This forces the players to
decide who should be in the lead and who is background if anyone is.
The reason I chose Burn by Ronald Barrett as my closer is because, just like the opener, it
has the energy that is leading to something the whole piece. In this case the energy leads to the
final notes. This piece allows each instrumentalist the ability to be held accountable for their own
part. Little of this piece is in unison except for the big impact moments. The middle section is
written asymmetrically meter-wise. It is two four bars and then a two which feels like an
extension of the four making it overall feel like a four bar and then a six bar. This asymmetrical
meter adds to the forward energy as well as the last few bars being in 7/8 or 9/8 which pushes
that falling forward idea more.