Prelude and Fugato from Mama Dee’s Notebook is a tribute to my grandmother, an extraordinary woman. Born the thirteenth child to a coal miner in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, she lived through the full force of the Great Depression. Despite the hardships of her upbringing, she earned multiple college degrees, her first being in music.
During the pandemic, as I sorted through some of her belongings, I discovered her harmony notebook from the spring of 1938. It was filled with routine theory exercises, but at the back were several short sketches, only a few measures long, labeled "atonal, March 1938." In those fragments, I glimpsed the workings of a fascinating musical mind. They reminded me of the times I’d heard her improvising organ preludes for her congregation— moments of pure, spontaneous creativity.

Inspired by those sketches, I crafted this Prelude and Fugato. The work draws from her ideas and evokes the rich, resonant sounds of a pipe organ, the kind that fills the space of a large church. As you listen, I hope you hear echoes of the music my Mama Dee might have composed had she pursued the life of a composer. 
Commissioned by World-Wide Concurrent Premieres and Commissioning Fund, Inc. this work is dedicated to Dr. Matthew McInturf.

Prelude and Fugato from Mama Dee's Notebook

March to Mars
The concert march March to Mars was written for a composition-contest of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corportation (EBU). This spectacular work was composed by Julius Steffaro, a pen-name of Jan Stoeckart, who also employs several other pweudonyms: Jack Trombey, Petr Milray and Willy Faust. In this way he has been able to add a large number of works for windband to his name. March to Mars has been elaborated and scored by Johan de Meij, who also did the arrangements for windband of Honky Tonk Ragtime and Cake Walk Phantasy from this composer.

https://www.molenaar.com/details/1/7111/en

March to Mars (arr. Johan de Meij) - Julius Steffaro

Blue Tango
Leroy Anderson was the son of Swedish immigrants. He studied music and foreign languages at the famous Harvard University before starting a brilliant musical career. He was a great church organ player, a fine conductor a great composer and mostly the successful arranger for the famous 'Boston Pops Orchestra' conducted by Arthur Fiedler. He turned into one of the very big champions of the musical 'novelty' with hits such as 'Belle of the Ball', 'Bugler's Holiday', 'Sandpaper Ballet', 'The Syncopated Clock' and 'The Typewriter' (all these items have also been published by Molenaar Edition). In was in 1947/48 that Anderson was obsessed by a tune which was to become his world famous 'Blue Tango'. He choose 'tango azul' as title, but this did not sound very commercial. (Usually Anderson first choose a title and then composed a piece, but in this case he did the opposite). The Decca label released this piece on the second Anderson long playing record in october 1951. Unexpectedly Blue Tango became the big success and made its way into the Top ten. Between january and halfway june 1952 one million records with this tune were sold. It was the very first instrumental piece to reach the top of the hit parade: it was number one for seven weeks and remained fifteen weeks in the top of the charts.
https://www.molenaar.com/details/1/8392/en

Blue Tango - Leroy Anderson

At World's End
Pirates of the Carribean
The soundtrack of the movie picture 'Pirates of the Caribbean': 'At World's End', released in May 2007, was composed by one of the 'masters of the soundtrack’, Hans Zimmer. Erik Rozendom made a faithful and extremely well sounding arrangement of this fine score which, in the meantime, has become very popular. This arrangement can possibly call on the vocal capacities of the musicians of your band.
https://www.molenaar.com/details/1/20704/en

At World's End (Pirates of the Carribean) arr. Erik Rozendom - Hans Zimmer

Lights in the Mirror
Lights in the Mirror was een compositie-opdracht van de Yahata High School Band (Fukuoka, Japan) ter gelegenheid van hun 30e jaarlijkse concert in augustus 2016. De titel van het stuk verwijst naar een gedicht van de rector: Kijk altijd in de spiegel naar je eigen hart, en bewandel het pad van de eerlijkheid. U zult genieten van dit gedurfde en dynamische werk, dat met zijn stevige ritmes en heldere harmonieën elk publiek zal bekoren. Ook zeer geschikt voor concoursen.

https://www.molenaar.com/details/1/20353/nl

Lights in the Mirror - Naoya Wada

Cry me a River
from the album "Crazy Love" - Michael Bublé
Cry Me A River is een Amerikaanse standard, geschreven door Arthur Hamilton, uitgegeven in 1953 en in eerste instantie bekend geworden door de uitvoering van Julie London. Op de CD 'Crazy Love' (2009) van Michael Bublé was 'Cry me a river' de openings song. Hij maakte er een swingend big band arrangement van. Dit arrangement is van oorsprong geschreven voor Harmonie met solo zang maar is ook beschikbaar voor alt of tenorsax, trompet, bariton of trombone.

https://www.molenaar.com/details/1/19486/nl


Cry Me A River (arr. Bert van Cruchten) - Arthur Hamilton

Fourth Symphony, Part 1- Elegy
Fourth Symphony, Part 2- Intermezzo
Fourth Symphony, Part 3- Tarantella

https://www.molenaar.com/details/1/7262/nl


Fourth Symphony, Part 1,2 and 3 - Alfred Reed

Chamber Symphony for Winds

Hummel Gets the Rockets
Maintheme from "The Rock"
This is currently the best arrangement you can find from the soundtrack to the movie 'The Rock' by Hans Zimmer! Erik Rozendom (arr At World’s End) has made a masterful arrangement of the music, which was also used on the TV series 'Expeditie Robinson', seen on Dutch television.
https://www.molenaar.com/details/1/19521/en

Hummel Gets The Rockets (arr. Erik Rozendom) - Hans Zimmer

Dance of the Clowns
After the overwhelming success of his 'Second Symphony' Pjotr Tschaikowsky (Votkinsk 1840 - Saint-Petersburg 1893) got a request of the Imperial Theatre in Moscow early in 1873 to compose the stage music to the play 'Snegourotchka' (translated as 'The Snow Maiden', 'Snow White' or 'Snowflakes') which was to be written by Alexander Ostrovski, the greatest Russian playwright of that period. The wage of 350 rubles was particularly welcome to the young composer who completed the work in only three weeks time (between the middle of March and the 6th of April) before Ostrovsky finished his libretto. The first performance was given at the Moscow Bolshoi Theatre on 23rd May, 1873 was very successful and since then the work remained on the Russian orchestral repertoire as a concert suite. The suite consists of 19 parts that incorporate twelve authentic Russian folksongs. The 'Dance of the Jesters' (sometimes called 'Dance of the Buffoons') is number 13 and appears in Act 3 as part of the carnival music; it suggests the joyful atmosphere of popular festivals.

https://www.molenaar.com/details/1/7305/en


Dance of the Clowns (arr. Terry Kenny) - Pyotr Iljitsj Tchaikovsky

Molenaar Edition is a publisher of sheet music for Concert Band, Fanfare and Brass Band. Molenaar Edition also has its own CD label, MBCD, that releases 3 to 4 CDs , a year.

The company was founded in 1933 by Pieter Jan Molenaar under the name Molenaar’s Muziekhandel. In the 1970s, his sons Jan and Bob joined the growing company. The name was changed to Molenaar’s Muziekcentrale, and later to Molenaar Edition BV.

Joel Puckett is a composer leaving both audiences and the press buzzing. His music has been described as, “soaringly lyrical” (Minneapolis Star Tribune), “Puccini-esque” (Wall Street Journal), and “containing a density within a clarity, polyphony within the simple and – most importantly – beautiful and seemingly spiritual.” (Audiophile Audition). Parterre Box recently proclaimed, “Puckett should be a household name” and the Philadelphia Inquirer’s David Patrick Stearns mused, “if the name Joel Puckett isn’t etched into your brain, it should be.” In 2011 NPR Music listed him as one of the top 100 composers under 40 in the world.

Hailed as “visionary” (Washington Post) and “an astonishingly original voice” (Philadelphia Inquirer), his music is performed by the leading artists of our day and is consistently recognized by organizations such as the American Composers Forum, BMI, Chorus America, National Public Radio, and the American Bandmasters Association.

Puckett’s music attracts diverse performers and listeners through its emotional energy and commitment. Melding tradition with innovation, his distinctive style grows from his power to create transcendent experiences using charismatic musical language.

The Fix, a grand opera commissioned by Minnesota Opera, premiered in the March 2019 to packed houses, enthusiastic audiences, and largely effusve praise. With a libretto by Academy Award and Tony Award winner, Eric Simonson, the work depicts the rise and fall of the 1919 Chicago White Sox. It is a tragedy ripe with power, romance and redemption, set against the backdrop of America’s favorite pastime. Puckett’s earlier commissions have been premiered and performed worldwide, to exuberant critical acclaim.

His flute concerto, The Shadow of Sirius, premiered in 2010 and has received more than 200 performances and been recorded multiple times, including 2015’s Naxos Surround Sound disc, “Shadow of Sirius,” which received a 2016 Grammy Nomination. Currently the Chair of Music Theory, Ear Training, and Piano Skills at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, Puckett presents workshops nationwide and frequently serves as an adjudicator at competitions for rising composers. His music is represented worldwide by Bill Holab Music.

Undergraduate student at Colorado State University graduating in 2026.

New tracks tagged #windband