KING UBU (1981) for large symphonic wind ensemble

This is movement III. "Ubu in Chains"

Michael Schelle, composer
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Commissioned by a Kappa Kappa Psi Music Fraternity consortium

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Michael Schelle's website: http://schellemusic.com/1.html

KING UBU (1981) - Mvmt. III: "Ubu in Chains"

SEVEN STEPS FROM HELL (1985)
- for large symphonic wind ensemble

by Michael Schelle

Commissioned by
Illinois Wesleyan University Wind Ensemble
Steven Eggleston, music director and conductor

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Michael Schelle's website:  http://schellemusic.com/1.html

SEVEN STEPS FROM HELL (1985) for wind ensemble

Miho Sasaki

REVERENCE FOR THE GODDESS (2020)

Commissioned by the Trinity University Symphonic Wind Ensemble
James Worman, music director and conductor
Premiered : May 9, 2021 in Laurie Hall, San Antonio, TX

Reverence for the Goddess is honoring the Goddesses. There are various Goddesses throughout the world and each represents its own powers - such as Athena, the Greek Goddess of wisdom, warfare, courage, compassion, civilization and inspiration.

Amaterasu, the Goddess of the Sun (in Shinto Japanese mythology), and Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom (the inspiration for the Statue of Liberty). The piece is rhapsodic in nature to express these multiple forms of being, strength, tolerance, warmth and intelligence.

Regarding the ancient goddesses, I often think of our soldiers, mothers, first responders, medical personnel, etc. the miracle workers who protect us and their loved ones so that we can have our routines, including waking up in the morning and going to bed at night.

In 2020, our normal lives have changed completely due to Covid-19, yet I'm here, writing music, in my house, living with our four cats and my family. That's because someone out there keeps protecting our world.
The piece was also inspired by music elements from my home, Japan.

Every Autumn, there's a week-long festival I regularly attended as a child. There are many drums, gongs, flutes and singing when we celebrate our goddesses.

www.sasakimusic.com

Miho Sasaki: Reverence For The Goddess (2020)

SUN-WUKONG (2013) for cello and orchestra
by Michael Schelle

South Shore Orchestra
Troy Webdell, music director and conductor
Joshua DeVries, cello
Live recording: 4 October 2013

The piece will go ON TOUR throughout China : w/ the South Shore Orchestra, January 2014

SUN-WUKONG is a legendary Chinese warrior-king of unbridled strength, power, agility, and magic ... and mischievous (sometimes malicious) behavior but, when fighting for what is right and good, he can be equally ferocious with intense compassion and emotion.

Various versions of this character are found throughout Asia and Eastern Europe.

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Midi recording here: https://soundcloud.com/rimsky-1/michael-schelle-sun-wukong

LIVE performance (Capital Conservatory Orchestra, Columbus, OH - Feb 2014) : https://soundcloud.com/rimsky-1/sun-wukong-2013-for-cello-and-orchestra

LIVE performance (Nanjing, China - Jan 2014): https://soundcloud.com/rimsky-1/michael-schelle-sun-wukong-2

VIDEO here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXbh8dgAM4E  (music begins @ 2:00)
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Michael Schelle's website: http://schellemusic.com/1.html

SUN-WUKONG (2013) for cello and orchestra

SAMURAI (1999)
In Memoriam: Akira Kurosawa

 - by MIchael Schelle

Çommissioned and premiered by:
Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra
Neal Gittleman, conductor

January 2000
Schuster Center for the Performing Arts

Michael Schelle's website: http://schellemusic.com/1.html

SAMURAI (1999) for orchestra

NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND (2007)
- for voice and mixed chamber ensemble
by Michael Schelle

An homage to the failed eduction policies of the Bush administration. Ideally performed in a public school classroom, the entire ensemble sits in a very scrunched claustrophobic circle on the floor, w/ the voice (teacher) and percussionist in the middle. Everyone is SO physically close that when they play they bump into / crash into each other - finding it physically challenging to even play their own part(s) not to mention problems concentrating - and paying attention the 'teacher' - because of so much over-crowding, confusing standardized testing (contradictory musical performance instructions) and claustrophobic music at its Bush administration best.

The majority of the score is notated but there are sections of directed improv within clear guidelines / instructions, etc. Near the end, one by one, the players get up and depart, playing as they walk away . . .

JCA Composers Orchestra
October 2007
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Michael Schelle's website:  http://schellemusic.com/1.html

NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND (2007) for chamber ensemble

SWASHBUCKLER (1984)
- by Michael Schelle

DETROIT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Raymond Harvey, conductor
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SWASHBUCKLER was originally written on a dare from one of my graduate composition students - a fella who insisted I only appreciated (and wrote) avant garde / experimental contemporary / new music. As I had the Buffalo Phil commission contract sitting on my desk at the time, I thought this might be the perfect opportunity to prove the student wrong, and to expand my catalogue with something different.

Quickly, the piece transcended the casual well-intentioned challenge, and became a sincere, genuine and respectful homage to the great swashbuckling film scores of Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Max Steiner and Co., and to the quintessential movie stars of the classic 1930's Hollywood swashbuckler blockbusters I so dearly loved ("Captain Blood", "The Sea Hawk", etc. - Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone).  There's heroic music, action music, lugubrious night-sailing music, even a tortured 'love theme' in the middle of all the action ... a tip of the hat the great swashbuckling femme fatale, Olivia de Havilland.

Commissioned and premiered by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, this recording is the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (rescued just in time from an old 1/4 track reel-to-reel tape that was disintegrating!! - the sound quality here is not the greatest stereo high fidelity, for sure ... ).
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Peformed more regularly than I'd ever expected, this season the Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra has SWASHBUCKLER on their May 2014 Subscription Series program.... coupled w/ Beethoven's 9th !! http://daytonperformingarts.org/content.jsp?articleId=3223
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Visit: www.schellemusic.com

SWASHBUCKLER (1984) for orchestra

EL SALON MEDICO (1976)
- by Michael Schelle

MINNESOTA ORCHESTRA
Sir Neville Marriner, music director and conductor

N.B.: this recording rescued just in time from an old 1/4 track reel-to-reel tape that was disintegrating!! - the sound quality here is not the greatest stereo high fidelity, for sure ... 
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Written near the end of my studies with Aaron Copland (and intentionally imitating his iconic Americana style of "Billy the Kid" and "Appalachian Spring"), EL SALON MEDICO was my 2nd orchestral piece and dedicated to my brother Patrick (who was beginning his surgery residency at a large Dallas hospital).

This brief piece proved to be a 'one-shot-deal' in this Americana style, and was in NO WAY the harbinger of things to come for me (stylistically), - not by a long shot !! But it was a blast to work on it under the guidance of the great man. It was a thrill, and and honor, to have worked with Copland for nearly 18 months.
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My friend, Pittsburgh composer David Stock, upon hearing the Minnesota Orchestra radio broadcast of EL SALON MEDICO (the title is, of course, a play on the Copland "El Salon Mexico") called me immediately after it ended and said:  "Schelle, dammit !!  So I'm listening to this piece on the radio and I'm thinking 'wait, I thought I knew every Copland orchestral piece there is, but I don't know this, but clearly it IS Copland, or it's a pretty good rip off".
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Another dear friend, Columbus (OH) composer Rocky Reuter, arranged a fantastic wind ensemble version of the piece, just because he 'thought it would be a cool band piece' - and surprized me out of the blue with the score. Now THAT'S true friendship (or complete insanity). The Reuter wind ensemble version has been performed numerous times by university band across the US.
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Visit: www.schellemusic.com

EL SALON MEDICO (1976) for orchestra

LIMBERLOST
Mvmt. 3 (of 6) from SPIRITS (1993)
- by Michael Schelle

SPIRITS is a work about infamous Hoosiers, commissioned by 
the Indiana State Orchestra Consortium (16 orchestras)

Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra
Neal Gittleman, conductor

LIMBERLOST comes from the early 20th Century teen novel "The Girl of the Limberlost" by Ms. Gene Stratton-Porter (1863-1924) - an author way ahead of her time: a women's lib advocate, she wore pants (oh, the horror!) and smoked cigarettes.  Ms.Stratton-Porter's books were iconic "must read' literature for adventuresome young ladies, early in the 20th century - the books deal with beauty, hardship, fellowship, independence, empowerment, romance and dreams.  The music reflects early 20th Century yearning and nostalgia.
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SPIRITS (1994):
JONESTOWN ECHO .. https://soundcloud.com/rimsky-1/michael-schelle-jonestown-echo
DETOUR TO NOWHERE .. https://soundcloud.com/rimsky-1/michael-schelle-detour-to
LIMBERLOST
ONE FOR THE GIPPER .. https://soundcloud.com/rimsky-1/michael-schelle-one-for-the
BEN BONHOMMES ROUGE .. https://soundcloud.com/rimsky-1/michael-schelle-ben-bonhommes
THE LAST RIDE .. https://soundcloud.com/rimsky-1/michael-schelle-the-last
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Visit: www.schellemusic.com
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Gene Stratton-Porter .. http://www.genestratton-porter.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=39&Itemid=2


LIMBERLOST, from "Spirits" (1993) for orchestra

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

Michael Schelle

EXTRACTION ON NO. 9 (2013) for large symphonic wind ensemble, a consortium commission from a dozen US bands.

This performance:
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY-EDWARDSVILLE Concert Band
December 2013

No. 9 is the front tooth. Inspired by (and dedicated to) my son Paddy who, in 2003, as a senior on the varsity basketball team at JFK High School in NY, went up for a layup / dunk, was fouled (flagrant!) from behind and smashed face-first onto the hardwood floor. Both his front teeth (No. 8 and No. 9) went flying out of his head, leaving two jagged stumps, a giant bloody mess and 9 yrs of reconstructive orthodontic nightmares.

The relentless 'highest note possible' ffffff piccolo part (beginning @ 1:00) is the whir of the dentist drill. There are a few strategically-placed vocal screams ... and the percussion section, in addition to a huge battery of all kinds of banging things, uses multiple electric drills and a chainsaw.

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VIDEO (CBDNA): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewz24XeAJSY
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ADDITIONAL AUDIO (Butler University):
 https://soundcloud.com/rimsky-1/michael-schelle-extraction-on-no-9-2013-for-wind-ensemble

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Michael Schelle's website: schellemusic.com/1.html

EXTRACTION ON NO. 9 (2013) for wind ensemble

大闹西双版纳

Michael Schelle

ESCAPE FROM XISHUANGBANNA (2022)
  大闹西双版纳
- for large orchestra and Chinese dasheng bells 

Commissioned by the Confucius Institute for 
the Asian Cultural Symphony Orchestra of the USA
- Jianyun Meng, project director

Premiere:  29 December 2022
Carnegie Hall, New York City

Program note:  
In 2021, nearly 20 adult Asian elephants escaped their controlled habitat in Xishuangbanna, southwest China. Deforestation, urban expansion and climate change became too overwhelming for the gentle giants.  For over a year this determined herd travelled the countryside in search of food, freedom and a new home. Communities were evacuated, the travelling giants became a spectacle, a few died along the way but eventually the remaining creatures were returned to their newly-renovated original home in Xishuangabanna.

Near the end of the piece, an arrangement of "Dá xiáng" (the elephant), a classic Asian children's song, is introduced - for this optimistic moment, three young children have come to the front of the stage and sing the song as the orchestra (and dasheng bells) accompany them. The traditional songs disappears, the children exit, and we are left with an atmosphere of caution ...

VIDEO:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJiYBhG74VY


http://www.schellemusic.com/1.html

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ESCAPE FROM XISHUANGBANNA (2022)

Michael Schelle

FEAR AND LOATHING IN THE CARTHUSIAN MONASTERY AT VALLDEMOSSA  (2022)

- version for two pianos (three players) and chamber ensemble
- clarinet, doublebass (and tenor sax, accordion, percussion arrive on stage 1/2 way thru the piece)

Program note:

In 1838, suffering from ill health aggravated by tuberculosis, Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) was spirited away to the Carthusian Monastery at Valldemossa by his mistress / lover / companion, author George Sand (Amantine-Lucile-Aurore Dudevant) - but the weather was unseasonably cold, the castle was damp and drafty (and "haunted"), Chopin's fragile condition only worsened. 

All this triggered a most unpleasant stay, Chopin accomplished very little music and the two emotional powder kegs (mired in anxiety, aggression and bitterness) argued the entire time, tensions continuously escalating. A few years later, Chopin would dump Sand in favor of Sand's own 18-year old daughter, Solange.

PIANO version - for two pianos / six hands:
https://soundcloud.com/rimsky-1/fear-and-loathing-in-the-carthusian-monastery-at-valldemossa

http://www.schellemusic.com/1.html

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FEAR AND LOATHING IN THE CARTHUSIAN MONASTERY AT VALLDEMOSSA  (2022)

CRASHOUT (2004) for orchestra

by Michael Schelle

Commissioned by the Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra
Alfred Savia, music director and conductor

Tough 1940's film noir gangster prison break music escapes into 'freedom'
 (safe tonality and campy faux patriotism) ... what ??

CRASHOUT (2004) for orchestra

RUACH: Spirit, Breath, Wind (2014)
- for wind ensemble

by Miho Sasaki

Butler University Wind Ensemble
Robert Grechesky, conductor
4 May 2014

Commissioned by Butler University Director of Bands, Dr. Robert Grechesky, in memory of his father, Sam Grechesky (1915-1981).

Ruach, the Hebrew word for spirit or breath (wind) stated in Genesis, "now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Ruach (Spirit) of God hovered over the face of the waters." Gen. 1:2

Although the reference is biblical, the piece is more universal in evolutionary theory. The piece captures the essence of this spirit moving over the unformed earth. The opening is quiet - a universe dark and inorganic as if an eye is slowly focusing on the earth. Throughout the piece, recurring emphasis on low winds and brass summon primal earth sounds and an overall feeling of the safety of paternal embrace. At the arrival of more clarity, microscopic materials are gradually introduced and developed, offering a beginning of life in spring. Dialogue between woodwinds and percussion challenge the wind against the earth leading to the explosive stormy section. Eventually, calm returns and we are drawn away from natural science and more into the realm of human emotions.

Miho Sasaki: RUACH: Spirit, Breath, Wind (2014) for wind ensemble

Michael Schelle

EXTRACTION ON NO. 9 (2013) for large symphonic wind ensemble, a consortium commission from a dozen US bands.

This performance:
BUTLER UNIVERSITY WIND ENSEMBLE
Cond. by Robert Grechesky

Indianapolis, IN  USA
May 2014

No. 9 is the front tooth. Inspired by (and dedicated to) my son Paddy who, in 2003, as a senior on the varsity basketball team at JFK High School in NY, went up for a layup / dunk, was fouled (flagrant!) from behind and smashed face-first onto the hardwood floor. Both his front teeth (No. 8 and No. 9) went flying out of his head, leaving two jagged stumps, a giant bloody mess and 9 yrs of reconstructive orthodontic nightmares.

The relentless 'highest note possible' ffffff piccolo part (beginning @ 1:00) is the whir of the dentist drill. There are a few strategically-placed vocal screams ... and the percussion section, in addition to a huge battery of all kinds of banging things, uses multiple electric drills and a chainsaw.

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VIDEO (CBDNA): www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewz24XeAJSY
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ADDITIONAL AUDIO (Southern Illinois University): 
https://soundcloud.com/rimsky-1/michael-schelle-extraction-1

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Michael Schelle's website: schellemusic.com/1.html

Michael Schelle
PROFILE IN COURAGE (2023)
- for large orchestra

Written by (then) Senator John F. Kennedy, "Profiles in Courage" (1956) is a celebrated volume of short biographies describing acts of bravery and integrity, individuals that stood up for what was right, despite the repercussions.

Whereas JFK's book focuses on the courage of specific individuals, my piece embraces a more universal / "everyman" aesthetic - admirable acts of bravery, integrity and courage as applicable to each listener's personal experiences. 

This piece is for YOU, it is for the courageous people in YOUR life: friends, relatives, colleagues - first responders, military, law enforcement, social workers, people in medicine, in politics (occasionally), in the arts (often), and courage in the face of life's extreme challenges. Think of YOUR courageous person(s) when listening to this piece.

website: www.schellemusic.com/1.html

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PROFILE IN COURAGE (2023), for orchestra

Michael Schelle

CUT AND RUN  (2023)
- for clarinet and piano

" . . . to make a sudden departure from an awkward or uncomfortable 
situation rather than deal with it . . .  "


www.schellemusic.com/1.html�

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CUT AND RUN, for clarinet and piano

Michael Schelle

THE FIFTH HORSEMAN OF THE APOCALYPSE  (2023)
- for large orchestra

Commissioned by the South Bend Symphony Orchestra
Alastair Willis, music director and conductor

- temporary midi -

Premiere:  February 10, 2023
Morris Center for the Arts
South Bend, IN

New Testament Book of Revelations:
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are War, Conquest, Famine, Death.

Old Testament’s Book of Ezekiel:
Four Horseman are Sword, Famine, Wild Beasts, Pestilence / Plague 

"The fifth horseman is us" ...
-  Charles Sutherland Elton (1900-1991), English zoologist and animal ecologist

1924: the unbeatable Notre Dame football team backfield, under Knute Rockne, was labeled the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame.

The piece will be premiered in South Bend, IN, February 10, 2024, in a concert paired with Mahler 5. In addition to a brief nod to the Notre Dame fight song (m. 198-199) this piece includes brief references to five 5th symphonies (Beethoven omitted intentionally):
      Mahler 5:  m. 196-198
      Tchaikovsky 5:  m. 199
      Shostakovich 5:  m. 242-243
      Bruckner 5:  m. 270-272
      Sibelius 5:  m. 295-298


www.schellemusic.com/1.html

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THE FIFTH HORSEMAN OF THE APOCALYPSE (2023), for large orchestra

Miho Sasaki

SILVER GENTLE (2015) 
- for brass choir and percussion

Commissioned by the North Meridian Brass Choir
Michael David Krueger, founder / director


Program Note: SILVER GENTLE, commissioned by the North Meridian Brass Choir, Michael David Krueger, founder and director, is inspired by - and dedicated to - our beloved gentle giant silver Maine Coon cat, Mary Claire (July 4, 2000 – December 28, 2014). A breathtaking creature, my original plan for her piece was to honor her beauty, patience and unconditional love - but as the piece progressed I realized that what was being drawn out was my grief, sadness, anger and, ultimately, reluctant acceptance. 

website:  sasakimusic.com

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Miho Sasaki :  SILVER GENTLE (2015)

Michael Schelle

SUMMIT AT SAN QUENTIN (2019)
- for chamber orchestra

Commissioned and premiered by
The Indiana University New Music Ensemble
David Dzubay, music director and conductor
5 March 2020

SUMMIT AT SAN QUENTIN (2019) - by Michael Schelle
San Quentin State Prison, located north of San Francisco, opened in 1852. The oldest prison in California, it is also the state's only death row. It has a gas chamber, gallows, and an electric chair, but since 1996 most executions at the prison have been carried out by lethal injection. Throughout its long history San Quentin has been “home” to dozens of high-profile bad guys—murderers, politicians, drug peddlers—and musicians.

Among the many infamous inmates: Henry Cowell (famous experimental composer who did time as the prison’s band leader), Eldridge Cleaver (noted author and early leader of the Black Panthers), Merle Haggard (country music legend), Stanley “Tookie” Williams (a founder of the L.A. Crips gang), Charles Manson (cult leader and mastermind of the “Helter Skelter” murders), Sirhan Sirhan (assassin of Robert F. Kennedy), Danny Trejo (movie star, boxer, restauranteur), and Richard Ramirez (serial murderer-rapist known as the “Night Stalker”).

Before those folk called Quentin home it housed the likes of Earl “Black Bart” Boles (1829-1888), a notably well-mannered poet-stagecoach robber known as the “gentleman bandit,” and “The Duchess,” Evelita Juanita Spinelli (1889-1941)—gangster, pro wrestler, brothel madame, and the first woman to be executed in the state of California.

If one looks for an upside to San Quentin’s rouges gallery it would have to be the San Quentin Jazz Band, a group of talented inmates (most of them in for robbery and/or drug-related charges) made up of both professional and amateur musicians. Its members included saxophonist Art Pepper (one of the 1950’s most celebrated and visible proponents of “West Coast Jazz”), pianist Jimmy Bunn (who performed and recorded with Charlie Parker and Charles Mingus), trumpeters Nathaniel Meeks (who worked with the Gerald Wilson and Johnny Otis bands) and Dupree Bolton (who played with Jay McShann, Harold Land, Bobby Hutcherson, and Dexter Gordon), saxophonists Earl Anderza, and Frank Morgan (who worked with Lionel Hampton, Wild Bill Davis, and Leroy Vinnegar before his drug habit led him into spending nearly 30 years bouncing in and out of prison, after which he enjoyed a successful 20-year comeback career). Locked up in the overcrowded San Quentin—a few yards from the gas chamber, and amid dire prison violence—the San Quentin Jazz Band played strikingly original, vibrant, life-affirming music every weekend in the “Big House.”

Summit at San Quentin, commissioned by the Indiana University New Music Ensemble, David Dzubay, director/conductor, is a fictional gathering of various inmates (including some of those noted above) under the watchful eyes of the prison guards. The cinematic “form” of the piece is freely episodic—as various participants interact, interject, interfere, intervene and improvise. An oft-recurring rhythmic pulse—a musical reference to the inescapable confines of prison life—surrounds the entire piece.

www.schellemusic.com
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SUMMIT AT SAN QUENTIN (2019)

PRAYER (2004)
by Michael Schelle

Kennesaw State University Wind Ensemble
November 2014
Charae Krueger, cello
David Thomas Kehler, conductor

VIDEO (Live performance): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DK0IkiOOuHE&t=4s

www.schellemusic.com

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PRAYER (2004) for cello, chamber winds and percussion

Michael Schelle

Summit at San Quentin  
- for chamber orchestra

Premiere: January 2023
South Bend Symphony Orchestra
Alastair Wills, music director and conductor

 - temporary midi -

SUMMIT AT SAN QUENTIN 

San Quentin State Prison, located north of San Francisco, opened in 1852. The oldest prison in California, it is also the state's only death row. It has a gas chamber, gallows, and an electric chair, but since 1996 most executions at the prison have been carried out by lethal injection. Throughout its long history San Quentin has been “home” to dozens of high-profile bad guys—murderers, politicians, drug peddlers—and musicians. 

Among the many infamous inmates: Henry Cowell (famous experimental composer who did time as the prison’s band leader), Eldridge Cleaver (noted author and early leader of the Black Panthers), Merle Haggard (country music legend), Stanley “Tookie” Williams (a founder of the L.A. Crips gang), 
Charles Manson (cult leader and mastermind of the “Helter Skelter” murders), Sirhan Sirhan (assassin of Robert F. Kennedy), Danny Trejo (movie star, boxer, restauranteur), and Richard Ramirez (serial murderer-rapist known as the “Night Stalker”).

Before those folk called San Quentin home it housed the likes of Earl “Black Bart” Boles (1829-1888), a notably well-mannered poet-stagecoach robber known as the “gentleman bandit,” and “The Duchess,”  Evelita Juanita Spinelli (1889-1941)—gangster, pro wrestler, brothel madame, and the first woman to be executed in the state of California.

If one looks for an upside to San Quentin’s rouges gallery it would have to be the infamous San Quentin Jazz Band, a group of talented inmates (most of them in for robbery and/or drug-related charges) made up of both professional and amateur musicians. Its members included saxophonist Art Pepper (one of the 1950’s most celebrated and visible proponents of “West Coast Jazz”),pianist Jimmy Bunn (who performed and recorded with Charlie Parker and Charles Mingus), trumpeters Nathaniel Meeks (who worked with the Gerald Wilson and Johnny Otis bands) and Dupree Bolton (who played with Jay McShann, Harold Land, Bobby Hutcherson, and Dexter Gordon), saxophonists Earl Anderza, and Frank Morgan (who worked with Lionel Hampton, Wild Bill Davis, and Leroy Vinnegar before his drug habit led him into spending nearly 30 years bouncing in and out of prison, after which he enjoyed a successful 20-year comeback career). 

Locked up in the overcrowded San Quentin—a few yards from the gas chamber, and amid dire prison violence—the San Quentin Jazz Band played strikingly original, vibrant, life-affirming music every weekend in the “Big House.”

Summit at San Quentin is a fictional gathering of various inmates (including some of those noted above) under the watchful eyes of the prison guards. The cinematic “form” of the piece is freely episodic—as various participants interact, interject, interfere, intervene and improvise.  An oft-recurring repetitive rhythmic pulse—a musical reference to the inescapable confines of prison life—surrounds the entire piece.

www. schellemusic.com


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SUMMIT AT SAN QUENTIN

Michael Schelle

THE REPUTATION  (2024)
- for wind ensemble

Written for Gary Wayne Hill, 
Emeritus Director of Bands, Arizona State University

*** temporary midi ***

"The Reputation" is about whoever / whatever you think it is about ... could be the well-deserved reputation of the spectacular Maestro Gary Hill (internationally revered for his musical intepretations and inspiring young musicians for decades, Gary - for whom the piece was written - is also an experienced canine agility trainer), or for the reputation(s) of other conductors who program the piece or, perhaps, for the composer (who, in certain circles, enjoys a somewhat famous / infamous reputation) - or for someone in your own circles of friends, enemies, colleagues, family, neighbors ...

The reputation (deserved / undeserved / good / bad, etc.,) of a city, a resort, a restaurant, a law firm, a police department, a politician, a musician, an artist, the Supreme Court, the FBI, BMV, CIA, DOJ, GOP, NASA, the RNC, MAGA, etc., all are contenders.

Disclaimer: 
"The Reputation" has absolutely nothing to do with the 2018 Taylor Swift "Reputation" album / tour / film - or, does it ... ?


"The Reputation"  
-  by Chandra Thiagarajan (b. 1940), Hindu advocate for literacy

"Like a shadow is reputation
If you chase the shadow
It will elude you in consternation

If you work for fame
You will be disappointed
Like chasing the shadow game"

https://www.schellemusic.com/1.html


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THE REPUTATION - for wind ensemble

Michael Schelle

JACKHAMMER HERACLES (2021)
- for alto sax and piano

Heracles (aka Herakles) was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of 
Zeus and Alcmene. He was the greatest of the Greek heroes, a paragon of 
masculinity, extraordinary strength, courage, ingenuity, and sexual prowess 
with both males and females. There was also a tender, sympathetic side. He 
was the ancestor of royal clans who claimed to be Heracleidae (Ἡρακλεῖδαι), 
and a champion of the Olympian order against chthonic monsters. 

Like Heracles (née Hercules / Roman) - and like a jackhammer -
the piece is just damn loud and aggressive all the time (until m. 85)�

https://www.schellemusic.com/1.html

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JACKHAMMER HERACLES - alto sax and piano

Michael Schelle

MUSICA FERRERO BARBARESCO  (2025)
- for clarinet, guitar and cello

*** temporary midi ***

Written for the Alba (Italy) Music Festival 
Composition Program : May 23 - June 2, 2025

To be premiered (during the festival) by the award-winning new music ensemble counter)induction.  Celebrating its 25th anniversary year, this contemporary music supergroup has performed around the world to critical acclaim.

Program note:

The Alba region of Northwest Italy is known worldwide for spectacular wines and chocolates.  "Musica Ferrero Barbaresco" embraces the psychological, physiological and emotional reaction(s) of enjoying these distinctive treats - the chill-out parts are the effect of the wine, the hyper parts are the effect of the caffeinated chocolate!

https://www.schellemusic.com/1.html�

MUSICA FERRERO BARBARESCO (2025)

Michael Schelle

Switchblade Stockhausen  (2025)

- for Bb  clarinet, cello and piano

Written for Thomas Piercy 
and the Random Access Music (RAM) 
New Music Festival :  May 15-18, 2025


There are NO direct references to any of Karlheinz Stockhausen's scores or styles, BUT the 
inspiration from his tense, rebellious music is real. The original working title of the trio was 
Switchblade Stockhausen but, as the piece evolved, the implied violence of this nototious 
weapon (illegal / banned in many states across the US and in Europe) was gradually replaced 
by somewhat more innocent and slightly less threatening musical materials, suggesting that the 
title, perhaps, should also be less threatening - such as Switchback Stockhausen (switchback :
sudden twists and turns in highways, trails, railway lines - a musical style often found in many 
of Stockhausen's scores) - but still, with the presence of some 1950's piano figures (the switchblade was THE go-to weapon of the 1950's rebellious American teenage gangs / hoods, full of post-war angst) and the addition of some tense, suspensful, threatening materials, the original title returned. 

So, cue the iconic Griffith Observatory switchblade knife fight scene in "Rebel Without a Cause" 
(1955, dir. Nicholas Ray) - a real switchblade was used in the scene resulting in James Dean's 
ear being cut. The moments of innocence in the piece might reflect the Natalie Wood character,
caught in this web of teen rebellion, angst and violence. This became the foundation of the piece 
(there are NO references to Leonard Rosenman's brilliant score for "Rebel Without a Cause").
n.b.: Rosenman had been James Dean's piano teacher!

Focusing on emotionally confused suburban, middle-class teenagers, "Rebel Without a Cause" 
offers both social commentary and an alternative to previous films depicting delinquents in urban 
slum environments. The film was an attempt to portray the moral decay of disaffected American 
youth, critique parental styles and examine the defiant post-war youth culture. By developing 
numerous conflicting and confrontational musical materials, my piece embraces many of these
sociological complications.

There are also a few very brief references to musical materials deveolped in my 1993 orchestral 
tone poem "The Last Ride of James Dean", premiered by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra under 
the direction of Maestro Neal Gittleman.
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SWITCHBLADE STOCKHAUSEN

Michael Schelle

Aria, Canon and Fugazi  (2025)

- for two pianos, four hands


Written for Kate Boyd and Miho Sasaki


Urban Dictionary:
 “fugazi” is an acronym along the lines of “fubar,” or 
“f—ed up beyond all recognition.” “Fugazi” reportedly 
stands for “f—ed up, got ambushed, zipped in” (referring 
to getting zipped in a body bag).


 - also: "fugazi" : hypocritical, broken beyond repair :)

website:  schellemusic.com
 

Duration:  ca. 12 minutes 

Aria, Canon and Fugazi

Michael Schelle

THE CASE OF THE SENTIMENTAL PSYCHOPATH  (2025)
-  for chamber orchestra

Program Note:  Inspired by film noir, Perry Mason, Alfred Hitchcock,
Quentin Tarantino and Russ Meyer (Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!), this 
is a piece written for someone you know ... or, perhaps, for yourself ....

www.schellemusic.com

BMI�

The Case of the Sentimental Psychopath (2025)

Michael Schelle

EXIST (2024)
- for string orchestra, harp and percussion

After decades of writing mostly wild, edgy, eccentric, violent, agressive 'modernist' music (and enjoying every minute of it!) -  for ex. "The End of Al Capone" (opera), wind ensemble pieces such as "Guttersnipe", "When Hell Freezes Over", "Seven Steps from Hell", "The End of the World", "Hangover Hotel", "Bullet Train to Hell"  ...  orchestra pieces such as "Virus", "Trapped Like Rats", "The Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse", "Escape from Xishuangbanna","Extraction on No. 8", "Ear Infection", "Summit at San Quentin", and chamber pieces such as "JUKAI: The Mt. Fuji Suicide Forest", "Kingfish Levinsky", "Cut and Run", "Rosemary's Baby's Accordions", "Bury the Hatchet", "Switchblade Stockhausen" and "The Eisenstein Mummers", I just really wanted to write a simple, engaging - with just a touch of nostalgia and caution - string orchestra piece.  

Although there are brief moments of gentle reflection in many of my pieces, and extended peaceful moments of hope and resolution in "Resilience" (2015, double concerto for viola, cello and orchestra - on the 70th anniversary of the end of WW2, Mvmt. 3: Blast of Silence), and in Mvmt. 3 (After Afterlife) of "The End of the World" (2011), my last completely "nice" piece was "Prayer" (2004), for cello, chamber winds, piano, harp and percussion.

While this is certainly no Barber, Britten or Tchaikovsky string piece (altho Tchaik 6 IS briefly referenced near the end - long story!), for me, this is all quite illuminating, cleansing, resolving 
and affirming - at long last, a piece that doesn't cause fear, anxiety and emotional paralysis :)

"EXIST" was was written for my dear friend - and decades-long champion of my music - Maestro Neal Gittleman (30-year music director of the spectacular Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra) for his 2025/26  "farewell" DPO concert. i.e. EXI(S)T.

Neal has programmed many of my big, aggressive pieces in the past, so this time I wanted to close our decades of collaboration and friendship with music of genuine respect, sincere gratitude, deep affection, cautious optimism, nostalgic reflection, resolution and peace.

n.b.: the "theatre" at the end (m. 196-217) is optional

Duration:  ca. 8 minutes



www.schellemusic.com/1.html

BMI
�

EXIST (2024)

Michael Schelle

Swanwhite  (1981)

Dana Zenobi, soprano
Amanda Hopson, piano
Indianapolis - January 2023

Program listing:

Swanwhite (1981)
    Prayer
1. Roses
2. Midsummer Child
3. Beautiful
4. Discipline
5. Peace

"Swanwhite" (1901) is a play written by Swedish playwright August Strindberg (1849-1912)

Written as a vehicle for his new love, the 19-year old Norwegian actress Harriet Bosse, this is Strindberg's only play of love, romance, roses and dreams. "Swanwhite" was Strindberg's gift to Harriet on their wedding day in 1901 (there was a 31 year age difference between them)

The text(s) of the songs herein come from a collection of letters / correspondences between Strindberg and Harriet, written after their parting in 1902. The Prayer is by Strindberg, the remaining texts are from Harriet's letters.

Considered the "father" of Swedish modernism, Strindberg's destructive, schizophrenic, neurotic, paranoid personality - and love / hate relationships with women - took its toll as their marriage feel within weeks to a bitter parting of the ways. Harriet, however, was already expecting their child. 


The photo is Harriet with 3-month old Anna Marie Strindberg.


n.b.:  the majority of these songs are quite intimate in nature - reflective, personal, sometimes violent, sometimes nostalgic, etc. rather than traditionally dramatic - less vibrato the better.

P.S. :  as a B.A. theatre major at Villanova Univeristy (Philadelphia), and long after I was attracted to - and studied - his life and works (plays, fiction, criticisms, paintings, politics, etc.), I discovered we shared birthdays, 22 January, exactly 101 years apart.  This realization gave me chills and I knew destiny would call to write music for him. Swanwhite is the last of my three "Strindberg" pieces, the other two are "Music for the Last Days of Strindberg" (1980) for large chamber ensemble, and "The Red Room" (1979) for solo piano.

www.schellemusic.com

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SWANWHITE (1981) - soprano and  piano

Michael Schelle
RESILIENCE (2014/15)
Double concerto for viola, cello and orchestra
- on the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II

*** Movement 3: "Blast of Silence"

Fort Smith Symphony Orchestra
Alaina Rae, viola
Joshua DeVries, cello
John Jeter, conductor

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjYCEUnJeZs&feature=youtu.be

www.schellemusic.com

RESILIENCE, Mvmt 3: "Blast of Silence"

MICHAEL SCHELLE

AND THEN THEY JUST DISAPPEAR INTO THE NIGHT (2016), for orchestra

*** temporary midi ***

VIDEO (Live performance):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jza5Rmtu9k4

Three performances in October 2016:
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra
Butler Symphony Orchestra

n.b. : the piece has the players whispering at the beginning, and near the end, and . . .
  - from 5:30 - end, house lights fade to dark.

Schelle website:   www.schellemusic.com

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AND THEN THEY JUST DISAPPEAR INTO THE NIGHT (2016), for orchestra

Michael Schelle

HESITATION KILLED THE CAT (2018)

- for "Studio in Bloom" (flute, bass clarinet, harp and cello)

- temporary midi

Premiere:  10 April 2018

N.B.: no cats were harmed in the writing of this music - the title is connected to the 1930's "Schroedinger's Cat" quantum physics experiments ! Verschränkung - perhaps the title should have a "?" at the end ...

Schelle website:  www.schellemusic.com
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HESITATION KILLED THE CAT (2018)

THE EXORCISM OF THE SUGAR PLUM FAIRY (2012)
by Michael Schelle

Butler Symphony Orchestra
Richard Auldon Clark, conductor
October 2012
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EX SPF VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVTKuQ-Uvvs

Other performances:
https://soundcloud.com/rimsky-1/michael-schelle-the-exorcism-2

Visit: www.schellemusic.com

THE EXORCISM OF THE SUGAR PLUM FAIRY,  a 2011/2012 consortium commission from fifteen (15) American orchestras (including the Detroit Symphony, the Nashville Symphony, the Dayton Philharmonic, the Alabama Symphony (Birmingham), the Tulsa Symphony, the Albuquerque Youth Symphony and nine others).   The Exorcism of the Sugar Plum Fairy was originally intended as a creepy, spooktacular new alternative to the standard predictable Halloween Concert fare (Night on Bald Mountain, In the Hall of the Mountain King, Dance Macabre, March to the Scaffold from Symphony Fantastique, etc., etc.). But the piece has quickly  and quite surprisingly  graduated from Halloween status and already been scheduled  to be part of various 2013/14 and 2014/15 season programs of youth concerts, Halloween in April concerts (cool!!), big orchestra Christmas / Holiday concerts (yes!!) and amazingly, for two orchestras, as the opening piece for Classical Series Subscription Concerts, sharing program space with the likes of Beethoven, Mozart, Bruckner, Stravinsky and Bartok (yes !! Yes !!). God Bless America and Halloween

THE EXORCISM OF THE SUGAR PLUM FAIRY (2012)

from STRUWWELPETER (1991) by Michael Schelle
"Conrad Suck-a-Thumb" is song No. 7 in the cycle about rotten children
Text by Heinrich Hoffman (1850)
Steven Stolen, tenor
Chamber Ensemble cond. by Robert Grechesky

Michael Schelle

Pinned to spotlight

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