THE END OF THE WORLD (2011) by Michael Schelle
1. The Exhausted Sun (0:00 - 5:55)
2. Bullet Train to Hell (5:55 - 8:50)
3. After Afterlife (8:50 - end)

Winner of the 2012 National Band Association "William D. Revelli" Composition Prize
http://www.nationalbandassociation.org/nbacommittee/revelli.asp

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This recording:

KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY SYMPHONIC WIND ENSEMBLE
Frank Tracz, music director and conductor
McCain Concert Hall
Manhattan, KS
December 2013

For more information on the piece: schellemusic.com/8.html

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VIDEO (with video image projections): University of South Florida: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWy3Fohb49A&feature=youtu.be
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Other recordings:

INDIANA UNIVERSITY .. https://soundcloud.com/rimsky-1/michael-schelle-bullet-train
ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY .. https://soundcloud.com/rimsky-1/michael-schelle-the-end-of-the

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PROGRAM NOTE: (for printed concert programs)

THE END OF THE WORLD (2011) Michael Schelle (b. 1950)

1. THE EXHAUSTED SUN
2. BULLET TRAIN TO HELL
3. AFTER AFTERLIFE

Written during the blistering, record-breaking heat wave of summer 2011, THE END OF THE WORLD was inspired, in some part, by the notorious cataclysmic end-of-the-world prophecy of Nostradamus (scheduled for late December 2012) and the Mayan calendar’s end-of-time prediction (also, according to some, on the immediate horizon). The primary source of inspiration, however, was the great earthquake and tsunami that leveled much of northern Japan in March 2011. My original plan was for a “serious” Nostradamus-related piece, but fate interceded: As I began work on the music in Spring 2011, I was heartbroken by the fear, disbelief and sadness on the face of my Japanese wife, composer/pianist Miho Sasaki, as she sat paralyzed by her emotions, watching televised images of her homeland’s devastation. So my piece took its shape and inspiration from this disaster. 

At the end of the day (or the end of the world), doomsday predictions are ephemeral, but Japan’s 3/11/11 cataclysm will have a profound international impact on generations to come. Besides, as I spoke with one of the consortium directors about my Nostradamus vs. Japan dilemma, it dawned on me that both subjects might very likely produce a similar score – so I chose to just embrace it all and seek the optimistic “substance after shadows” (Shinto prayer) for resolution. 

As old Nostradamus's predictions have come and gone without incident, and the Japanese people have (once again) picked themselves up from the ashes and resiliently moved on, now my piece may take on more universal considerations: perhaps reflecting on each listener’s personal experience(s) with the loss of important persons, places, or things.

THE END OF THE WORLD is a commission from a consortium group of 35 university and professional symphonic bands / wind ensembles from across the US and abroad. In December 2012, selected from over 80 international entries, THE END OF THE WORLD was awarded the 2012 National Band Association "William D. Revelli Composition Prize".
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LA FIN DU MONDE CONSORTIUM COMMISSION GROUP:

Michigan, Eastman, Texas-Austin, Indiana, Nebraska, Illinois, Florida, 
Purdue, Arizona State, Michigan State, Kansas State, Wisconsin, Ithaca, 
Southern Illinois, UNC Greensboro, Minnesota, New Mexico, Louisiana, Butler, 
Trinity (TX), Capital, IPFW, Missouri, the Hartt School, Lawrence Conservatory, 
Virginia Commonwealth, Illinois Wesleyan, Indiana Wind Symphony, etc.

The Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) Performing Arts Center Symphonic Wind Ensemble

THE END OF THE WORLD (2011) for wind ensemble

Sugar Rush

Commissioned and premiered by The 4 Hornsmen of the Apocalypse

Live Performance at The University of Illinois 9/11/14
Horns: Gerry Wood (1), Paul Blackstone (2), Tony Licata (3), Audrey Good (4)

Program Note

     4 Translations was composed during the summer of 2012 as a commission by The Four Hornsmen of the Apocalypse.  This talented, virtuosic and, at times, comedic quartet is known for treating their audiences to entertaining, solid performances which made it easy to accept a commission. Each of the four movements of 4 Translations is loosely based on a specific composer and his compositional language of that era, similar in concept to Prokofiev's, Classical Symphony.  These four composers: Machaut, Rossini, Meyerbeer and Hindemith were chosen specifically because, though they each had substantial musical output, they are not commonly referred to as "top-tier" composers (Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Mahler, etc.)  The movements are in chronological order by composer birth dates, each containing elements used by that composer.  

4 Translations for Horn Quartet (Live)

3 Vignettes for Solo Piano 
Composed on 9/17/14, 9/18/14 and 10/10/14

Brett Kroening, piano

3 Piano Vignettes

Music by Texu Kim
Performed by Alarm Will Sound
Live at the Mizzou International Composers Festival, July 26, 2014

Bounce!!

This is the theme song for the Startup Podcast by Mark Henry Phillips

StartUp Theme - Mark Henry Phillips

Music by Nicholas Omiccioli
Performed by Alarm Will Sound
Live at the Mizzou International Composers Festival, July 26, 2014

[fuse]

Access to score: MusicaNeo SM-000224063
http://zaemunn.musicaneo.com/sheetmusic/sm-224063_fascination_at_a_distance_for_solo_piano.html

Two separate entities mutually and continually act upon each other while maintaining their individual integrities. Change and development, brought about by both immediate and long-term responsiveness to each other, are continuous. In the last of four sections, the old tune Fascination grows out of the pitch material and is quoted, with very thick harmonies, several times. This is a demanding, virtuoso piece. Martin Perry plays on the recording. 
Score access: 
Two separate entities mutually and continually act upon each other while maintaining their individual integrities. Change and development, brought about by both immediate and long-term responsiveness to each other, are continuous. In the last of four sections, the old tune Fascination grows out of the pitch material and is quoted, with very thick harmonies, several times. This is a demanding, virtuoso piece. Martin Perry plays on the recording. 

Fascination At A Distance, solo piano

01 Partita  I. Allemande

OUT APRIL 29 on Cantaloupe Music

From the liner notes: "Modernism scares people. Is it because it’s new? That can’t be the whole explanation, because everybody likes to discover new things, right? Maybe it's the amount of newness. While discovery always involves a degree of unfamiliarity, modernism can drive really far into unfamiliar territory, becoming distant from any known landmarks. So much unfamiliarity can be scary.

It can even be alienating. The unpopularity of Revolution 9 (by one of the world’s most popular bands) is the evidence that the Beatles' experimentation with found sound, tape loops, and studio technology pushed their fans away. Revolution 9 is modernist because it is a song that’s not a song, something so unfamiliar that it not only breaks with the past, but also breaks its own category.

Varèse’s Poème électronique must have also seemed like a categorical contradiction: poetry created on machines?! The piece—no less than its title—expresses his modernist zeal through never-had-a-past electronic sounds. 'The world is changing, and we change with it. The more we allow our minds the romantic luxury of treasuring the past in memory, the less able we become to face the future and determine the new values in it.'"

Purchase

Revolution 9 (The Beatles)

Michael Hertel - Bari Sax
Steven Snowden - Composer

Program Notes:
The Shovelhead was a notoriously cantankerous, but much beloved V-twin motorcycle engine manufactured from 1966 to 1984 by the Harley Davidson Motor Company. The name was derived from the way in which the engine’s rocker boxes resemble the inverted heads of coal shovels. Though prone to oil leaks, hard-starting and over heating, this engine defined the unique Harley sound that many love (or hate) today. Thanks to my friend, Amber Alarcón and my Harley, Fricka for providing all of the source material upon which this piece is based.

This piece, originally written for Bass Clarinet and electronics, was commissioned by Matthew Miracle and premiered in Tempe, Arizona. This recording comes from a performance at the Electric LaTex Festival on 11-11-2011 in Austin, Texas.

Shovelhead - for Bari Sax and Electronics

Brett Kroening is an active, international composer currently based in Georgetown, Texas.  As an undergraduate studying Music Theory and Composition under Cherise Leiter, Leanna Kirchoff and Hal Tamblyn at the Metropolitan State College of Denver, Brett participated in masterclasses with composers such as Bruce Adolphe, George Crumb, Claude Baker and Michael Colgrass.  After completing studies at The University of New Mexico, Brett then attended graduate school at The University of Texas at Austin and was Teaching Assistant under Professor Patrick Hughes and the UT Horn Studio.

     Brett has received commissions from Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music, Bainbridge Symphony Orchestra, Camarata Music Company (Seoul, Korea), The Copper Street Brass Quintet, Rocky Mountain Brassworks, The Four Hornsmen of the Apocalypse, Waterloo Sound Conspiracy, Mayfield High School Orchestra and Band, Bosque Preparatory School Wind Ensemble, various orchestras, bands, chamber ensembles and professional artists throughout New Mexico, Colorado, California, Kansas, Washington, Minnesota, Utah and Texas.  Brett's music has been performed in Cadogan Hall (London) and Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles) and has been presented on Minnesota Public Radio.  In 2011 the fanfare, Flurry was chosen as the opening piece by The Las Cruces High School Band at the 2011 New Mexico Music Educators Association Honor Band concert.  Though primarily publishing his own compositions, Brett has many works published with Lovebird Music Publishing (Plano, TX) and Corniworld Publications (London, UK).

   Often working as an instrumental composer, Brett has also composed electronic, electro-acoustic and choral works.  Brett is a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and was also recently awarded winner of the University of Utah's New Music Ensemble Composition Competition.

3 Piano Vignettes

Brett Kroening

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