The life of railroad worker in the early days of expansion was lonely, and the need for music to bolster spirits was of great importance. The character singing 900 Miles is looking forward to being reunited with his family after being separated from them for considerable time. The Wayfaring Stranger is a prominent American folk and gospel song that reflects upon the journey through life. The character in that song contemplates better times with their family in the afterlife. Both of these folk songs speak to the idea of searching for something beyond the current situation in which that person finds themselves. The programmatic qualities of the work are essentially tied to the main folk song - 900 Miles – and they evoke the idea and situation of where the song found its origins. Beyond that, both songs connect each of us to the sense of belonging and family that humans experience.

CF2020

Lonely Travelers

Canticles of Hyperion chronicles the adventures of the deposed Titan during the Titanomachy. The work seeks to bring light and positive energy against moments of strife and conflict among the Titans and Olympians. Hyperion persists to rise above the conflict, to secede his power and position, seek reconciliation with Zeus, and be released to discover a new path on which he can lead a meaningful existence.

Image Credit:
Greek Mythology. (n.d.). [Painting of Hyperion]. Retrieved on August 2, 2021 from https://greekmythology.wikia.org/wiki/Hyperion .

2021-07-22 PGH Creators' Project

Canticles of Hyperion

For the full story behind this piece, please check out the following link:
http://travisjweller.com/2010/06/the-story-behind-american-visions/

American Visions

A new piece currently in press with the FJH Music Company (FLA). My thanks to Jack Anderson (Director of Bands at the University of Pittsburgh) and the PMEA District 5 Band Students for the world premiere in February of 2011! 

The piece was influenced by the wonderful and vibrant folk music of the region around Moravia and composers such as Brahms, Bartok, Liszt, and Janacek. It is an exciting work that builds in texture and intensity.  The piece will be available from FJH in July of 2011.

Moravian Dance

A nebula is a large cloud of dust and gasses (mostly hydrogen and helium) found in space. Nebulas are sometimes referred to as a “star nursery”. Gravity slowly pulls together clumps of dust and gases until they collapse. As the dust and gases fold upon themselves, the material at the center begins to heat up causing the core to warm. Through this process, a star is born.  Nebulae have been studied by astronomers and scientists throughout history. Some nebulae are visible to the naked eye (the Orion Nebula is one of these as it appears between the stars in the constellation Orion’s sword). Thanks to images provided by the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope in 1990, mankind has gained even more appreciation for the cosmos. The mysterious appearance of a nebula conveys a sense of awe and wonder. This work for mid-level band is a sonic representation of one such journey. The piece opens with moments mystery as we approach the unknown and is followed by an intense journey that might come perilously close a black hole or supernova. Other moments are reflective in nature to convey the beauty of these moments found in the cosmos. 

Available from Wingert-Jones, Summer 2022.

Picture credit:
([n.d.]). Nebula: Great Nebula in Orion. Retrieved from https://library-artstor-org.ezproxy.messiah.edu/asset/ARTSTOR_103_41822001625506

Music for Concert Band 2021-2022 

Beyond the Nebula - Travis J. Weller

All citizens of the United States of America owe a daily moment of gratitude for the men and women who serve and protect our freedom as members of the Armed Services. In my own family, my father, father-in-law, uncles, and cousins have all willingly served. When you consider the courage that every man and woman who serves musters to face certain adversity and peril, one should have overwhelming urge to thank them for their service. For Country and Courage is a work for young band that is intended to be a thank you “note” that every student musician can share with the hometown heroes in their community.

For Country and Courage will be available this summer from Wingert-Jones Music.

For Country and Courage - Travis J. Weller

Neil Colquhoun collected the New Zealand sailing song Soon May the Wellerman Come around 1966, although the song was likely known almost 100 years earlier (Uno, 2021). The Weller Brothers Company were a shore-whaling company in southern New Zealand in the 1830s. A Sailor or employee for this company became known as a “Wellerman”. Traveling from the base at Otakou (also known as Weller’s Rock) established by Gregory and Edward Weller, the Wellerman Boats would travel to other stations selling provisions necessary for operations. 

The lyrics of the song tell of one epic struggle of a captain, his crew, and a Right Whale. As one who appreciates marine life and a supporter of wildlife on Philip Island in Australia (my penguin ward is named Willie), I cannot support the idea of whaling. I can, however, support the idea of a group of individuals coming together under a leader who cares for their well-being and success – much like the relationship between a school band and their director. The choice of lyrics to be sung towards the end of the piece is personal. Many directors are fighting every day, refusing to “cut the line” so their students and program succeed. Consider this work a “regular call, to encourage the director, band and all.” This piece is dedicated to “my crew” – the directors and students of band across the country who continue to contribute to their school culture and spirit through study and performance of music.

The Wellerman Come will arrive Summer 2022 from FJH Music. My thanks to Brian Balmages for his support of the work, and to the Messiah University Symphonic Winds, Kim Hirschmann and Sam Tate for testing this work in its development.

Photo Creator/Credit: Aleh Varanishcha/Getty Images

The Wellerman Come

“Today is the greatest day of your life, if you want it to be.” - Marion Weller

What a simple truth! The manner in which we greet each day and what we do with it are choices. Why not look forward to the Promise on the Horizon and the possibilities for greatness that lie within it? Written as a celebratory fanfare or concert opener, this work for mid-level band is an opportunity to explore that very question. The piece is about two minutes and fifteen seconds in length, and the technical range should be very comfortable for most mid-level musicians. The piece reinforces a number of basic rhythmic patterns in 6/8 time.

Promise On The Horizon

Rising Winds from the Valley was commissioned by the Seneca Valley Band Foundation for the Seneca Valley Freshmen Concert Band for their final concert of 2011.  This piece derives its title for the young men and women from whom it was written – the rising winds and percussion players that are part of lasting legacy of instrumental excellence in the Seneca Valley School District.  Having known both directors for a number of years and understanding their teaching style and core of their character, it was an honor to add to their program’s rich tradition with an original work for wind band. The recording featured here is by the Westminster College Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Dr. R. Tad Greig.

Rising Winds from the Valley

With folk traditions in both Europe and Asia, dragons are legendary creature that inspired countless stories, movies, books and games in many different cultures. Described as a creature of immense size and power, a warrior’s mettle would be tested if he could defeat a dragon in battle. This programmatic work for young band includes energetic rhythms in minor tonality depicting an epic battle between a solitary warrior and a dragon who threatens his kingdom. The warrior must risk fighting in close quarters with the immense beast, close enough that he will meet the Eyes of the Dragon. (available from FJH Music, Summer 2014)

Eyes of the Dragon

The rustle of wind. Rattling shutters or windows. Startling sounds. A falling object. At night, our senses tend to be on edge and small occurrences are more upsetting. Throw in an unexpected and mysterious voice in the dark and suddenly we experience a heightened sense of fear of the unknown. The Haunting Call for high school band is a sonic journey of fearful flight away from danger on a dark and shadowy night.

Music for Concert Band 2023-2024

The Haunting Call - Travis J. Weller

What does the life of a lone warrior look like? What stories does he or she have to tell? This piece for beginning band depicts a lone warrior beginning a journey across an ancient land. This solitary warrior is joined by others on the way, and together they defend those who cannot defend themselves. This piece is now available from Carl Fischer music for beginning band/elementary band.

The Warrior's Path

With shades of other jazz royalty ("Don't Mean a Thing" by Duke Ellington and "One O'Clock Jump" by Count Basie), “Jazz Kings” is swing treatment of the Christmas Carol "We Three Kings". It is ideal for a middle school/junior high band. My enduring thanks to Chaz Baker, who I studied with at Kent State University, for providing the inspiration behind this setting. “Jazz Kings is available Summer 2024 from Carl Fischer Publications.

Jazz Kings

Country Sketches is a two-movement work that encapsulates my journey growing up on a farm in Western Pennsylvania. It is personal programmatic music that has moments of innocence, hope, and joy as the story unfolds. I owe my family thanks for how and where I was raised, for it has served me well being a husband and father to my own family today.

Country Sketches

A journey over 12 years in the making, "A New Sheriff in Town" connects to "The Last Stagecoach Heist" (published by FJH). This new stand-alone work contains two distinct sections "A New Sheriff in Town" and "Tumbleweeds". 

A New Sheriff in Town

Coming in the summer of 2015 from FJH Music is "Hammer and Rail". This new work for young band revisits the folk song "This Old Hammer" which chronicles the life of John Henry as he toiled on the railroad in the years following the Civil War.

Hammer and Rail

"Alleluia Fanfare" is a based on the Spanish hymn tune "Madrid" and commonly appears in hymnals as "Come Christians Join and Sing".

Alleluia Fanfare

A setting of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" and "Johnny's Gone for a Soldier" for concert band. Opposites in their emotional content, these Civil War folks songs pair up very well.

Songs Of Soldiers

A new work for MS/JH Band using the American Revolutionary Folk Song sung by Colonial Soldiers to mock the British. My thanks to Dr. Arnold and the Grove City College Wind Ensemble for their performance of "Yankee Overture" and to Ryan Dore for making the recording!

Yankee Fanfare

It was an honor and privilege to write for Mr. Len Lavelle, Mr. Chris Ballentine, and the fine students of the North Hill Senior High School Wind Ensemble - a terrific program led by two amazing directors. Pittsburgh has this unique quality that you can see where you want to drive, but rarely is it a straight shot and involves a fair amount of auto-vehicular "dancing". There are five parts to "Metro Dances"(Into the City, Traffic "Jam", Big Trucks, Rush Hour Begins, (which has an open solo section & suggested solos for trumpet 1 and alto sax 1)& Breaking Free (I-279 North). I hope you enjoy this vibrant journey through the "Burgh"!

Metro Dances

The late 1800’s in the American Old West produced a host of colorful characters who by all accounts became legends as gallant lawmen and infamous outlaws. Mr. Charles Earl Bowles, better known as Black Bart, was one such notorious outlaw who operated in Northern California and southern Oregon. Beginning in July of 1875 through his final robbery in November of 1883, Black Bart made daring thefts of stage coaches (mostly operated by Wells-Fargo). Though he received fame for these bold robberies, Bart was also known for his style and sophistication, and for holding up coaches with an unloaded shotgun, never harming a passenger, and was well-known for poetic messages left after his heists. Detectives eventually tracked Bart down only 9 days after his final heist, and after his trial it was determined he had conducted 28 robberies during his 8 year criminal career. After serving four years in jail for his crimes and receiving a pardon, it was reported the Bart moved to Harrisburg, Pa. The Last Stagecoach Heist depicts the final criminal act in the career of Black Bart. It is energetic, daring, and at times relentless – the better qualities of a man who lived a life of crime! 

The Last Stagecoach Heist

This short three-movement work chronicles the epic life of a medieval knight in dramatic fashion. The three movements, A Call for Knights, Courting a Lady, and Winning the Joust each tell their part of the story of a Knight's rise, his love, and winning the ultimate prize. The recording here is from close friend David Blon and the OBDA JH Honor Band from Hawaii.

Tales of a Medieval Warrior

Flourishing Noels utilizes my favorite Christmas carol “The First Noel” in setting that pays homage to works by my favorite composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. While my favorite work by Vaughan Williams remains the Variations on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, Flourish for Glorious John and Flourish for Wind Band have always appealed to me and they have been pieces I have shared with my own students over the years. It was refreshing to discover the spirit of those two works could lead me to find a new setting of this carol for concert band.

Flourishing Noels (A fanfare on the First Noel)

Festival Esprit is dedicated to the 2012 Ohio Music Educator's Association District 5 Junior High Honor Band students and their directors who I am able to call friend and colleagues. The work was debuted at Stambaugh Auditorium in Youngstown, Ohio. Knowing the reputation of many of these schools and their directors, I sought to create an exciting work that would emphasize the collaborative creative act that so many ensembles undertake in presenting a concert. The synergy created by these student collaborations are not easily replicated in other parts of a student's school experience, and this is one of the qualities that makes our experience in the arts so satisfying and unique. 

Festival Esprit

What if the mythical stories we learned as children were only part of the truth? What if these “monsters” that have been hunted by man could tell us about the world from their perspective? I invite you and your ensemble to explore the lives of three such creatures – Quasimodo, Nessie, and Sasquatch – in this work for concert band "Monsters or Myths". The piece was commissioned by The Greenville High School Band (Pa.) and their director Mr. Eric Schrader. The piece was dedicated in loving memory to Christopher Hershberger, a 17 year old young man who passed away on January 18, 2012 due to a brain hemorrhage. Described as a fun-loving and entertaining student, Christopher’s personality was never diminished by his Down Syndrome condition. After his passing, Christopher saved the lives of four people through organ donation. Christopher was chosen by CORE to be a Floragraph on the Donate Life Float in the 2013 Tournament of Roses Parade. His love of music was well-known by his friends and director, which led to the work being dedicated in his memory.

Monsters of Myth

Director of Music Education and the Symphonic Winds at Messiah University by day, husband to an amazing wife, father to four great kids, and Band Music Composer at odd times of the day.  Advocate, Composer, Conductor, and Educator on a quest to save music education one note and one student at a time. Always looking for that one note...and a pencil...and some staff paper...and a few minutes of silence to get it all down. Constantly thinking about music, education, and composition and realizing the toughest thing about being successful is that you have to keep on being successful. A composer with published pieces at FJH, Carl Fischer, Ludwig-Masters, Manhattan Beach, C.L. Barnhouse, Wingert-Jones, and Bandworks Publications!

Travis J. Weller

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