Gao Hong, Celebration
2021

In China, we have many festivals that we celebrate each year. In this piece I use drum solos interspersed with instrumental passages to create joyful rhythms and melodies that depict the
festive atmosphere of families gathering together in a festival. The slow middle section expresses the peoples’ yearning for peace, prosperity, and happiness.

Celebration was commissioned and premiered by the Minnesota Sinfonia, conducted by Jay Fisman on October 19th, 2021, at the Basilica of St. Mary in Minneapolis, MN. In 2022, the full orchestra version was performed by the Maryland Symphony Orchestra. It has been my great honor to write this full band version of this piece for “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band and the world premiere performance at the American Bandmasters Association 2024 conference.

-Gao Hong

Arnold Schoenberg, Theme and Variations, Op. 43
1943

When antisemitism swept across Europe in the 1930s, Schoenberg was forced to emigrate to America, and it seems that the sunny climate of Southern California allowed him to reconcile himself somewhat with tonality and the Romantic tradition. The Theme and Variations for wind and band, Op. 43 (1943) is one of the signal products of Schoenberg’s “American” period. He undertook the work at the request of his American publisher, G. Shirmer, Inc., which claimed, in Schoenberg’s words, that “the great number of [wind bands] had an important influence on the development of love for music in America, but unfortunately there are only a small number of good original compositions available.” The firm apparently asked for a piece which would satisfy bandleaders, who wanted “as many different characters and moods in one piece as possible.” The Theme and Variations was thought to be too difficult for high school bands at the time; Schoenberg transcribed it for orchestra, in which form it received its premiere, by the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Serge Koussevitzky in 1944. The original version was finally premiered by the Goldman Band under its leader, Richard Franko Goldman, in 1946. Since that time, it has become a staple of the wind band repertoire.

The opening theme is based on a seven-tone set; the aural effect is that of a nicely sculpted, minor mode march, played mostly on brass with occasional percussion spicing. The seven variations, which follow one another without pause, explore the ensemble’s varied sonic palette, from sinuous legato figurations to almost jazzy fanfares to quiet, finely calibrated combinations of woodwinds. Schoenberg reserves the full force of a tutti for the finale, which features extravagant swirls of brass and emphatic percussion; it is music that almost could have come from a film score. Lucidly orchestrated, intelligent, and, at times, verifiably crowd-pleasing, the Theme and Variations has gained acceptance as a masterpiece of its kind.

-Andrew Lindemann Malone

David Maslanka, Symphony No. 8
2008

Symphony No. 8 is in three distinct movements, but the musical layout suggests a single large-scale panoramic vista. I began the composition process for this symphony with meditation, and was shown scenes of widespread devastation. But this music is not about the surface of our world problems. It is a response to a much deeper vital creative flow which is forcefully at work, and which will carry us through our age of crisis. This music is a celebration of life. It is about new life, continuity from the past to the future, great hope, great faith, joy, ecstatic vision, and fierce determination. The old is continually present in the new. The first movement touches the “Gloria” from my Mass: “Glory to God in the highest,” whatever that may mean to you: the power of the universe made manifest to us and through us. The second movement is a large fantasia on the old Lutheran chorale melody Jesu meine Freude (Jesus My Joy). The life of Christ is one powerful image of the high creative: being willing to be broken to receive the new; giving oneself up entirely so that a new idea can be born. The old form of the organ chorale prelude underlies this movement – new language out of the old.

The third movement is a music of praise and gratitude for all that is. It can be traced to the very end of the favorite old hymn tune All Creatures of Our God and King – the part with the joyous descending major scale where all the bells ring out. I recently used this tune for a set of variations in a piece called Unending Stream of Life, a name which could also be a fitting
subtitle for his new symphony.

-David Maslanka

Jerry Junkin

Serving since 1988 on the faculty of The University of Texas at Austin, where he holds the Vincent R. and Jane D. DiNino Chair for the Director of Bands, in addition to serving as a University Distinguished Teaching Professor, Jerry Junkin is recognized as one of the world’s most highly regarded wind conductors. Previously, he served on the faculties of both the University of Michigan and the University of South Florida. In addition to his responsibilities as Professor of Music and Conductor of the Texas Wind Ensemble, he serves as Head of the Conducting Division and teaches courses in conducting and wind band literature. He is a recipient of multiple teaching awards, and students of Mr. Junkin hold major positions throughout the world.

He has served as Music Director and Conductor of the Hong Kong Wind Philharmonia since 2003, and as Artistic Director and Conductor of the Dallas Winds since 1993. Beginning in 2009, he has served as Visiting Professor at the Senzoku Gakuen College of Music Wind Ensemble in Tokyo, Japan.

An enthusiastic advocate of public school music education, having conducted All-State bands and festivals in forty-eight states and on five continents. He spends his summers in residence at the Interlochen Arts Camp in Michigan, as well as appearing at major music festivals throughout the world. Mr. Junkin has served as President of the Big XII Band Director’s Association and is a member of the Board of Directors of The John Philip Sousa Foundation, is Past-President of the American Bandmasters Association, and Past-President of the College Band Directors National Association. Regularly making guest appearances with ensembles such as the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra, this season finds him conducting throughout the United States in addition to appearances in Japan, China, and Europe. Mr. Junkin is a Yamaha Master Educator.

-Faculty bio, University of Texas at Austin Butler School of Music