Wind Ensemble

Adoration

Variations On Reverse Entropy - Roger Zare

We Choose to Go to the Moon-Roger Zare

Ghost Town Triptych (Flex Strings Version)-Roger Zare

Performed by Eighth Blackbird and the U.S. Navy Band, Capt. Kenneth Collins, conductor.

Full performance video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHMabYCLKrI

Eighth Blackbird + US Navy Band, Kenneth Collins, conductor

Vital Sines

ASIMO-Roger Zare

Zare - Breathless

This is a piece that I wrote while pursuing my Master's degree at the University of Illinois in 2021. It is a piece about domestic abuse, including the process of gaslighting and various assaults that a survivor may experience.

... over and over and...

EDGES is inspired by several events in my life over the period of 1995-97.  Two are near-death experiences, while the third is the sudden passing of one of my closest colleagues and best friends, Professor Robert Cooper.  

The first movement, "BACK FROM THE EDGE", is a chronicle of the battle that I waged with "flesh-eating strep", which nearly cost me my life in spring, 1995.  A fragment of a line from French playwright Jean Genet’s “Prisoner of Love” served as additional inspiration: 

 “perhaps all music, even the newest, is not so much something discovered as something that re-emerges from where it lay in memory, inaudible as a melody cut in a disc of flesh.  A composer lets me hear a song that has always been shut up silent within me.”

In a sense, my life has re-emerged from where it lay, for a while, silent, in memory.

Movement II, "POSTCARDS", is inspired by my mentor and friend, composer Donald Erb, who had his own near-death experience about a year later in the same Ithaca, New York hospital (a bizarre coincidence).  I know that he shared many of the mental aberrations I experienced during the recovery process, and POSTCARDS reflects the strange visions, the elusive but more and more frequent moments of clarity, and the eventual return to reality that such experiences create.  For me, in retrospect, these thoughts were like vivid postcards of other realities, sent to me by another part of my mind and filtered through the pain, the fear, and the medications that I had been given.  There was also a highly obsessive quality to my thoughts during the reco-very, which is reflected in the primary melodic material which simply refuses to disappear, though it changes colors, dynamics, and tempos at every turn.

Postcards -- real postcards, that is -- also played a role in my experiences.  While recovering, I received a post card (often of questionable taste) every two or three days from Don.  When it was his turn to be in recovery, it was my turn to send him postcards (equally questionable)...they seem now to me to be a lifeline to reality from people who are eager to welcome us back.

A quote was inspirational for this second movement as well, this time from Hermann Hesse’s Damien:

“In each individual the spirit is made flesh, in each one the whole of creation suffers, in each one a Savior is crucified.”

The final movement is a reflection on the amazing, wonderful, and sometimes difficult life of my colleague, Robert Cooper.  Robert had, without a doubt, the speediest metabolism of anyone I have ever known.  Lunch with Robert could be defined as both of us eating for the first five minutes and Robert watching me finish eating for the last 45.  Robert had two computers in his office and a phone; often all three were busy at once, while he carried on at least one additional conversation with whomever was present.  Yet Robert had great depth too.  He was a living example to students and colleagues, especially in facing life’s travails with courage and conviction.  He was also funny as hell.  I suppose that Robert’s pace was impossible to sustain, and in fact he died suddenly at age 45 on September 18, 1997. 

No quotations needed with this movement.  This one’s for you, man.


EDGES Movement III OhMan for wind ensemble

EDGES Movement II Postcards for wind ensemble

EDGES Movement I Back from the Edge for wind ensemble

Inspired by a trip to Disneyland, Aerodynamics describes an imaginary flight on an open-air glider. When I was in college I went on a new ride at the California Adventure theme park called "Soarin' California" during which I was suspended in the air with my legs dangling as if I were in a hang glider. I was immersed in imagery of California landscapes that zoomed by as fans blew air at me to simulate incredible speed. Even the scent of pine forests wafted through the breeze to complete the experience. This ride was so visceral and powerful to me that I went on it over and over, taking it in with excitement every time. I am fascinated by high speeds and by flight, and Aerodynamics is my musical response to these visceral experiences. Musically, Aerodynamics is focused on the ebb and flow of fluid gestures, connected by a continuous stream of quickly repeated notes that represents the wind blowing at your face. Every line is echoed and mirrored so that a simple idea expands into a wash of sound. The listener may imagine taking flight throughout the piece, dipping and swooping as the shape of the music weaves its way from high to low and from small to large. This work uses a very limited amount of material, consisting almost entirely of a repetitive two note motive and a fleeting melody. The constant underlying motion builds the energy toward the end of the piece, where a climax combines the two main musical ideas in a majestic orchestral tutti.

The orchestral performance in this set is a live recording of the Florida State University Philharmonia, Alexandra Dee conducting (http://www.alexandradee.com), February 16, 2013

The wind ensemble performance in this set is a live recording of the CCM Wind Symphony, Rodney Winther conducting, October 20, 2010

for more information, please visit http://www.rogerzare.com/aero.htm

Aerodynamics for wind ensemble (CCM Wind Symphony, Rodney Winther conducting)

Miranda Schreiber's composition "Guitar Quartet No. 1" received its world premiere by Miguel Lumbao, Jackson Miller, Matthew Kwon, and Angelo Favis on October 26th, 2020 at Illinois State University.

Program Notes:

Most of the pieces that I compose are absolute; they exist just for the beauty of music itself and the natural emotions that it brings to each individual. However, I sometimes develop a programmatic interpretation of my own compositions as I gain a deeper understanding of them. Guitar Quartet No. 1 is one of these pieces.


I believe that music is like a person. A melody is like a person's voice - it has words and intonation, as well as a unique timbre in every person or instrument. Music's body language is expressed through rhythm, while music's emotions and facial expressions are predominantly expressed through the harmony. All of this is what makes music so humanistic.


The chill groove at the beginning of the piece represents our daily lives, as we often let our bodies go through the usual routine of everyday life. The main theme is presented shortly thereafter, representing our voice. The canon takes this voice and envelops us in it, making us feel lost in our own thoughts. Our inner thoughts are interrupted when a new texture arrives with harmonic development, making us take the time to meditate or pray. We take this moment to rest and reflect on life. It is towards the end of the piece that we celebrate the realization that there is something greater than ourselves which allows us to live life as intended.

Guitar Quartet No. 1

Ghost Town Triptych-Full Suite: Roger Zare

Music by composer Roger Zare. Check out more by visiting http://www.rogerzare.com

Aerodynamics for wind ensemble (CCM Wind Symphony, Rodney Winther conducting)

Roger Zare

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