2003 WASBE Conference

The opinions expressed
herein are those of the
authors and not
necessarily the opinions
of WASBE.

Thoughts on the WASBE Conference 2003 and a Neglected Masterpiece?

by Timothy Reynish

Why do so many of us travel hundreds, even thousands of miles, to attend a WASBE Conference? Partly this must be to bond with colleagues from differing countries, situations and sometimes cultures, and to discuss common concerns, chiefly that of programming. We all have enough music to fill our schedules for several years, but we search for the elusive new ingredient—an unknown masterpiece (new or old), a fascinating pairing of newer and older works, or a great performance of familiar repertoire which throws new light on an old friend.

While it is relatively easy to find new virtuoso pieces at the professional or conservatoire level, I think that finding the Grade 3 or 4 level work provides more of a challenge. It is here that I hope that the 11^th WASBE Conference might have a lasting influence, if only through identifying experts in specialties of repertoire—young researchers and conductors who want to review and assess music for us. This vast body of research and knowledge which WASBE Sweden tapped should find its way into our files by way of the WASBE web site, the Newsletter or simply through contacts made at the Conference.

Spain 1993

One Conference that I missed was in Valencia in 1993, clearly one of the happiest, with a vast range of music ranging from the fascinating large-scale uncompromising works of Klaas de Vries and Bernard van Beurden (look into his Cello Concerto, his Bassoon Concerto, his Soprano Saxophone Concerto, his Messe, or his Estampie) to the native repertoire. I was extremely disappointed when the Valencia wind band was forced to cancel its appears at this year’s Conference because of budgetary problems, and more so when none of our bands picked up on any of the suggested Spanish repertoire. We were, however, lucky to have two papers by American experts — Scott Cohen and Greg Fritze — as well as one by Frank de Vuyst, editor for Piles. These will soon appear on the WASBE web site and represent a major addition to our knowledge of Iberian music. By using the email and web contacts cited below, we can all identify music which will add colour and excitement to our programmes.

Joaquin Rodrigo

Many of us are familiar, for instance, with the very beautiful Adagio by Joaquin Rodrigo, which was commissioned by Robert Boudreau for the American Wind Symphony; we probably do not perform it as much as we might because of its lack of saxophones. Other works of his that we should certainly have in our library are his virtuoso Pasodoble para Paco Alcalde—a four minute very exciting concert march estimated at Grade 4, and his Per la Flor del Lliri Blau, a seventeen minute symphonic poem in which the naïve and the sophisticated, the complex and the simple, the lyric and dramatic lie cheek by jowl. This was played in 1993 but none of us picked it out for review. It now appears in a sensational new edition from Piles and is a wonderful addition to our 19th century repertoire. In the prefatory notes, the editor writes: “The idiom of Per la flor del lliri blau falls recognisably within the European late-romantic tradition although the voice is unmistakably Rodrigo's own, especially in the eloquent melody heard at various times throughout, and the spirited march-like central section based on the popular song Els tres tambors.”

I heard this first at Riva del Garda and was immediately captivated, though some of my colleagues on the jury who knew it thought it to be derivative, naïve, old-fashioned.... Maybe they are right in one way, but I have listened to it now about a dozen times and it still fascinates me. If Dvoark had moved to Spain, lived a further twenty years, and had written for the Spanish wind bands, this is the style he might have used.

The score is copyright 2002. The notes point out that the cello part (always a concern in Spanish music) is optional, C trumpets should be used for their increased brilliance but there are Bb parts, and ideally you need a complete saxophone section, including soprano and bass.

Spanish Repertoire

At the WASBE Conference, Piles had an excellent exhibition of scores and a demonstration CD of some exciting repertoire published by them. Richard Scott Cohen presented "An Overview of Spain's Band Movement and Musical Forms of Spanish Band Music", Greg Fritze discussed Spain's "Symphonic Repertoire for Band", and Frank de Vuyst explored "A New Generation of Symphonic Composers for Band". You can access a first rate website of over 100 Spanish pieces through Greg Fritze, while Scott Cohen runs Visca Music, the North American distributor for Piles and other Spanish publications.

www.viscamusic.com
www.nii.net~gfritze/intropagw.htm
www.pilesmusic.com