#ncgsw

http://mentalfloss.com/article/51417/7-experimental-adventures-classical-music

I love this blog!  It's sparking so much creative thought and just general reflecting on music, which is definitely something that I've been wanting to do more of.  One of my best friends read my last blog post and we've been talking about it and I really liked one idea that she brought up.  It started with wondering about the differences between classical wind ensemble music and classical symphonic/orchestral music, which is what I am more familiar with.  If any of you have examples of contemporary pieces for wind ensemble/band, I'd love to listen to them and get a better idea of the wide range of things that are possible in the world of wind ensembles.  However, the most interesting point that she brought up was how the history of a particular instrument might impact the performer's experience.  For example, she plays the saxophone, which does not have a particularly long history so we were wondering how that might impact the music written for sax and also the performer's impression of that music.  Another good point that she brought up is how our interactions with music might be based on the music that is primarily written for our particular instrument/grouping.  Obviously composers write a lot of symphonies for the group known as a symphony/symphony orchestra and our experiences with those large-scale pieces might impact our listening perspectives.  I'm really curious to look more into wind ensemble pieces and solo pieces from contemporary composers and also to find out the opinions of singers/wind ensemble musicians in my music history class on these matters.  

The summer after my sophomore year of high school, I was selected by audition to attend the North Carolina Governor's School (a 5 week summer program) in Instrumental Music.  I played viola in the orchestra where we explored 20th and 21st century music through theory, orchestral playing, lessons, and other venues.  This is where my passion for contemporary classical music really started, thanks to the direction of Orlando Cela, our conductor over that summer.  Below are links to all of the pieces that we performed at NC GSW (the ones without links are on a CD at my house.....)  Some of these aren't the best quality recordings, but the music was incredibly difficult for a bunch of high school sophomores to learn in 5 weeks and it was a lot of repertoire even with 25 hours of rehearsal per week....

Prokofiev - "Montagues and Capulets" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOacQ6AtaLE

Penderecki - "De Natura Sonoris 1" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdckA6Fu-hM

Feldman - "Intersection 1 for String Orchestra" 

Schoenberg - "Accompaniment to a Cinematographic Score" 

Debussy - "La Mer: Dialogue of the Wind and Sea"

Elizondo - "Estampas Mexicanas" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW2fTgSB_hM

Ives - "Holiday Symphony III: Fourth of July" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8S1aGY80Us

Husa - Overture to "Youth" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNI1mINCSe8

Chen Yi - "Ge Xu" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9ASZGss1Fc

John Adams - "Chairman Dances: Foxtrot"

Parra - "InFALL" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mqnrWXw_rA