An Examination of the History and Winning Pieces of the National Band Association's Composition Contest: 1977-2008

• Other Authors: McCutchen, Matthew G. (authoraut)
• Format: Others
• Language: English; English
• Published: Florida State University
• Subjects: Music
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_migr_etd-2585

In 1977 two prominent band directors, Al Wright, from Purdue University, and John Paynter, from Northwestern University, joined forces to create the National Band Association (NBA) Composition Contest with the express aim of adding exceptional pieces to the wind band's repertoire. Over the first thirty-two years of the competition, thirty pieces, by twenty-seven composers, have been judged by a committee of experts to be worthy of this recognition. The purpose of this project is to trace the history of the contest and to examine the thirty winning pieces. Chapters on the winning works include a brief biographical narrative of the composer, an analysis of each piece that has not been previously examined in a dissertation, book, or journal, listings of previous study of the aforementioned works, and a complete listing of the composers' works for concert band. Furthermore, scores and recordings of each winning piece have been secured, and will be archived in the F. Ludwig Diehn Composers Room Library on the campus of Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. All scores and recordings are to be available through interlibrary loan, and the first page of each score will be available online. The winning compositions include; Warren Benson's "The Drums of Summer", Steven Bryant's "Suite Dreams", and "Radiant Joy", Harry Bulow's "Textures", Michael Colgrass' "Winds of Nagual", David Dzubay's "Ra!", Paul Epstein's "It's…The Adventures of Matinee Concerto: As Broadcast "Live" from the Late Twentieth Century; With Notes", David Gillingham's "Concerto for Bass Trombone and Wind Ensemble", Arthur Gottschalk's "Concerto for Winds and Percussion Orchestra", Donald Grantham's "Bum's Rush", "Fantasy Variations on George Gershwin's 'Prelude II for Piano'", and "Southern Harmony", Jeffrey Hass' "Lost in the Funhouse", Anthony Iannaccone's "Apparitions for Symphonic Band", Samuel R. Hazo's "Perthshire Majesty", David Kechley's "Restless Birds before the Dark Moon", Martin Mailman's "For precious friends hid in death's dateless nights", Walter Mays' "Dreamcatcher", Gordon Ring's "Concerto for Piano, Winds and Percussion", Dean Roush's "Illuminations for Symphonic Band or Wind Ensemble", Joseph Spaniola's "ESCAPADE", Jerome Sorcsek's "Variations for Band", Philip Sparke's "Music of the Spheres", James Syler's "The Hounds of Heaven", Byron Tate's "Between Worlds", Frank Ticheli's "Symphony No. 2", Joseph Turrin's "Illuminations for Solo Trombone and Wind Symphony", and Gregory Youtz's "Scherzo for a Bitter Moon === A Dissertation submitted to the College of Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. === Spring Semester, 2009. === March 18, 2009. === William D. Revelli, National Band Association, Compositon Contest === Includes bibliographical references. === Richard Clary, Professor Directing Dissertation; Alexander Jimenez, Outside Committee Member; Patrick Dunnigan, Committee Member; Clifford Madsen, Committee Member.