Univ. of Michigan Concert Band Chamber Winds - Courtney Snyder Ng, conductor
Contemporary harmoniemusik for double wind quintet - a theme and variations expressing a wide variety of color and character expressed with pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassons, and horns.
Score and parts available at www.robertspittal.com

Composed for a consortium led by Bill Drury and New England Conservatory, performed here live by chamber players from the University of Michigan Concert Band conducted by Courtney Snyder Ng.
Winsome Variations is a single-movement set of free variations based on a simple, winsome tune. In this piece, I hope to create a contemporary wind work that, similar to my Consort for Ten Winds (pub. Boosey & Hawkes), reflects the festive and charming character of wind music in the harmonie tradition.

Winsome Variations for Chamber Wind Ensemble - Robert Spittal

For Band, Grade 4 
Score and parts available at www.robertspittal.com

Inspired by Beethoven's Egmont, the piece is a program work representing the monomyth, known in
comparative mythology as the heroic journey.
Commissioned by Concordia College, Moorhead, MN

THE QUEST - Overture for Band

SUITE EUPHONIOUS www.robertspittal.com 
Grade 3
A small postmodernist suite composed for flexible combinations of winds and strings with optional piano and percussion
I. A Heavy Fanfare
II. Dance Chants
III. 5 before 3

Suite Euphonious for Flex Ensemble Robert Spittal

"Spring's Green Rose" is an adaptation of the greate Ars Nova composer Machaut's beautiful rondeau "Rose, liz, printemps, verdue".
Composed in four parts: two flutes, one alto, and one bass.  Suitable for quartet or choir.

Visit www.robertspittal.com to learn more and order.

Spring's Green Rose Flute Quartet or Choir - Robert Spittal

Sax Quartet SATB - Available at www.robertspittal.com
An original contrapuntal tour de force for sax quartet. Premiered at the North American Saxophone Alliance in 2019. Based on the chamber wind piece Winsome Variations.

Prelude On A Chanson By Machaut - Sax4 - Spittal

Composed for string orchestra in 8 parts, this beautiful setting was commissioned by the La Cueva HS Orchestras and director Rebecca Simons.  This recording is from their live performance at the 2019 National Orchestra Festival in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  
Also available in versions for flex strings and flex winds and strings.

ASTA 2019 La Cueva HS Camerata

Pacem -  Hymn for Peace - String Orchestra Version

Available at robertspittal.com

Performers: 
Ross Holcombe, trombone & The New England Conservatory Winds
Robert Spittal, conducting, March 8, 2022, Jordan Hall, Boston, MA
Scored for double ww quintet (2.2.2.2.2.). Commissioned by the Washington Music Teachers National Association as a work for trombone and piano, this wind ensemble version is a tour de force for trombone that explores a variety of musical allusions to the meaning of the word "blue".

Blue Allusions - A Divertimento For Trombone And Winds - R. Spittal

Full recording at https://soundcloud.com/robert-spittal/blue-allusions-a-divertimento-for-trombone-and-winds-r-spittal?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Score and Parts https://robertspittal.com/blue-allusions-for-trombone-and-winds-spittal.html

Blue Allusions divertimento (excerpt)  Ross Holcombe, trombone NEC Winds, Spittal, conducting

Composed in 2014 for Dr. Katherine Borst Jones and The Ohio State University Flute Troupe. Premiered by the National High School Flute Choir at the 2014 National Flute Association Conference in Chicago, Illinois.
Murmuration is the aerial ballet displayed by large flocks of birds (starlings). I've always been amazed by the synchronicity of murmuration, and its musical possibilities.  This excerpt from "The Startling Science of Starling Murmuration" by Brandon Keim describes some of the operations in a starling mumuration that I considered while writing the piece:
"Starling flocks, it turns out, are best described with equations of “critical transitions” — systems that are poised to tip, to be almost instantly and completely transformed, like metals becoming magnetized or liquid turning to gas. Each starling in a flock is connected to every other. When a flock turns in unison, it’s a phase transition."
The musical renderings of murmuration come through in the work's imitative counterpoint (critical transitions), transitions between episodes (phase transition), and bird-song melodic and rhythmic motives. It is a "madrigal" in the sense of being an expressive, virtuosic piece in which the composer uses counterpoint and word painting to musically enhance a poem- in this abstract instrumental work, the music describes the visual and sonic poetry of murmuration.

Murmurations (a madrigal for flutes) Robert Spittal

For chamber wind ensemble/double ww quintet (2.2.2.2.2.)
A lightly-classical setting of entertaining music from the Gilbert & Sullivan-inspired comic ballet "Pineapple Poll".

Available at www.robertspittal.com

Andante and Allegro: Music from Pineapple Poll by Robert Spittal

Live recording of the world premiere of the three movement Concerto for Wind Ensemble by the New England Conservatory Wind Ensemble, Robert Spittal, conductor.

Concerto for Wind Ensemble - R. Spittal, World Premiere, NEC Wind Ensemble

Published by the composer
website: www.robertspittal.com
email:  robertspittal@hotmail.com
Recording: Keum Hwa Cha, violin
Idaho State University Wind Ensemble, Patrick Brooks, conductor
Prelude and Flight  is a work of contrasting moods. The prelude is somber and molto serioso, but the mood of the “flight” lifts gradually over time as the darkly romantic music transforms  into buoyant frivolity. 

When commissioned to compose a work for high school violinist and wind ensemble, I considered the difficulties I've faced as a conductor balancing winds with strings. Just a pair of winds can easily overpower the sound of several violins, so the composer must consider balance carefully.  My solution was to feature the violin frequently without accompaniment in the prelude.  In the fast music (flight), I followed the old masters' approach in the Baroque and Classical era concerti, and feature the solo violin mainly in episodes of chamber music alternating with episodes of full ensemble.

I was honored to compose Prelude and Flight for the King Kekaulike High School Wind Ensemble in Pukulani, Hawaii, Casey Nagata, director, and to conduct the premiere performance at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center on April 8, 2014 with violinist Kisa Urodoma.



Prelude And Flight for violin solo and wind ensemble

Composed for and premiered by flutist Debora Harris and the Concordia College 2015 HS Honor Band.  Prelude and Flight is a work of contrasting moods. The prelude is somber and molto serioso, but the mood of the “flight” lifts gradually over time as the darkly romantic music transforms into buoyant frivolity.
Grade 4-5 Published by the composer. 
Contact robertspittal@hotmail.com 


Prelude And Flight for Flute and Wind Ensemble

A five movement divertimento for clarinet solo and band commissioned by a consortium of 19 universities and 1 high school, led by Idaho State University, Patrick Brooks, director and Shandra Helman, professor of clarinet. 
Available from the composer www.robertspittal.com

Spittal - Diversions 5 - Klezmic

Spittal - Diversions 4 - Pomp And Circus Dance

Spittal - Diversions 3 - A Sentimental Chill

FOR CLARINET SOLO AND BAND.  A five movement divertimento commissioned by a consortium of 19 universities and 1 high school, led by Idaho State University, Patrick Brooks, director and Shandra Helman, professor of clarinet. 
Available from the composer www.robertspittal.com

Spittal - Diversions 2 - The Contrarian's Waltz

Spittal - Diversions 1 - West Coast Fanfares

Chinook Sketches, Robert Spittal, composer
Publisher: www.robertspittal.com 
Scored for double ww quintet (2.2.2.2.2.)
A fun and adventurous piece of harmoniemusick commissioned by Catherine Gerhart and the Chinook Winds (Seattle, WA) for an outdoor celebration.

Chinook Sketches - Robert Spittal

for double woodwind quintet
Published by Boosey & Hawkes
A contemporary reflection on 16th century French wind music, this Consort starts with a lively dance movement, then continues to a heartfelt Aubade and a capricious Sautureau. Scored for pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets, horns and bassoons. (duration – 10:40)

Consort for Ten Winds - Robert Spittal

www.robertspittal.com
Commissioned by Washington State Music Teachers Association
The piece is a divertimento in seven parts for trombone and piano.  A divertimento is a single piece made of  smaller, diverse movements, each one contrasting in character with the others.    In Blue Allusions, the diversions are unified in that within each, there is a "blue" element being alluded to by the music.  The idea that there is a link or correspondence between music and color is a very old and very persistent one. Plato linked the major second and perfect fifth to yellow and the perfect fourth to red, in an extension of the Pythagorean harmony of the spheres to encompass planets, tones and colors. Aristotle suggested a parallel between the harmony of colors and the harmony of musical intervals. Newton, when investigating the spectrum of light, linked the intervals  minor third, fourth, fifth, major sixth, minor seventh and octave to the colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.  Musicians today frequently think of music in terms of color, and "blue" is a term frequently alluded to when musicians and listeners describe music.  “Blue” may describe a variety of feelingful expressions in a piece of music, or describe a listener’s emotional response to that expression.  But “blue” is also a technical term among musicians, used to describe a technical feature – a type of scale or harmony, a structural element, or a rhythmic style.  With poetic license, I explored these tangible and intangible meanings of “blue” in this piece.

Divertimento for Trombone and Piano: Blue Allusions in 7 Episodes

Pub: Boosey & Hawkes/Hal Leonard Windependence Series
Composer Website: robertspittal.com
Composer Email: robertspittal@hotmail.com

Live performance of the popular wind band version of Pacem by the CCM Wind Ensemble, Dr. Terence Milligan, conductor.
Pacem is published by Boosey & Hawkes

Pacem (A Hymn for Peace) for Wind Band, Robert Spittal

American conductor and composer of music for band, orchestra, chamber ensembles and electronic media.  His music has been described as "original","inventive and witty""intelligent" and "full of musicality" and is published by Shaba Road Music, Boosey & Hawkes Co., and Maestro and Fox Music.   Robert 's works have won favor with the finest
professional and academic  musicians in North America, Europe and Asia.
Robert is professor of music at Gonzaga University in Spokane, WA, USA.
Website: robertspittal.com

Robert Spittal

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