Steven Bryant

Commissioned for Joseph Alessi by a consortium of ensembles led by Jerry Junkin the Dallas Winds, and the University of Texas at Austin.

My first inkling to write a concerto for Joe Alessi came when we shared a program at the University of Miami in November, 2011. He was performing John Mackey’s concerto, Harvest, with Gary Green and the Frost Wind Ensemble, and my own Concerto for Wind Ensemble followed on the same program. Joe very generously came out to sit in the audience after his performance to hear my work, and the following year at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago, we finally had a chance to sit down for coffee, and with the support of Jerry Junkin, put this project into motion.

In creating music specifically for Joseph Alessi, I was drawn to his expressive, unbelievably beautiful tone on the instrument, as well as his ability to flatten everything in his path without sacrificing that beauty. In movement I, I sought to “hide” his tone by having him play much of the time muted, and making the music pungent, nasal, and somewhat irritating at times, in order to heighten the open, melodic unveiling in the second movement. The final movement harnesses his power to create a state of euphoria.

Unlike most of my other music, I initially created a long (for me) melody instead of a short motive as the basis of all three movements of the work, and drew motivic material from that as needed. Despite my original intention, the full, uninterrupted melody never makes an appearance in the piece. Also of note, a particular four-note chord from movement IV of Webern’s Six Pieces for Orchestra informs the work. I quoted this same work of Webern in my Concerto for Wind Ensemble, the work Joe first heard in Miami which sparked his interest in my music, so it serves as a subtle connecting thread between these two events. The music is absolute – there is no program or storyline apart from the inherent drama of the soloist dancing around (and often above!) the ensemble in the Concerto’s traditional fast-slow-fast movement structure.

Commissioners

• Arizona State University, Gary Hill
• Auburn University, Rick Good
• Central Missouri University, Scott Lubaroff
• Crane School of Music, Brian K. Doyle
• Illinois State University, Martin H. Seggelke
• Michigan Technological University, Mike Christianson
• Ridgewood Concert Band, Chris Wilhjelm
• Southeastern Oklahoma State University, Erin Cooper
• Tennessee Tech University, Joe Hermann
• The University of Florida, David Waybright
• The University of Kentucky, Cody Birdwell
• University of Redlands, Eddie R. Smith
• The University of South Carolina, Scott Weiss
• The University of Texas at Austin, Jerry Junkin
• The University of Wisconsin, Scott Teeple
• Western Michigan University, Scott Boerma
• Western Washington University, Christopher Bianco
• Yale University, Thomas Duffy

Commissioned by: Dallas Winds, UT Austin Wind Ensemble, and a consortium of ensembles

Dedicated to: Joseph Alessi

Premiered

February 19th, 2016. Joseph Alessi, Trombone; University of Texas Austin Wind Ensemble, Jerry Junkin, conductor
February 23rd, 2016. Joseph Alessi, Trombone; Dallas Winds, Jerry Junkin, conductor

Technical Info

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