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    Nelson

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    Michael Cotten
    This is a paper talking about Ron Nelson, the famous band composer. Ron Nelson has written many great works including Savannah River Holiday, Rocky Point, and Aspen Jubilee.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Nelson

    Uploaded by

    Michael Cotten
    2K views4 pages
    This is a paper talking about Ron Nelson, the famous band composer. Ron Nelson has written many great works including Savannah River Holiday, Rocky Point, and Aspen Jubilee.

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

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    This is a paper talking about Ron Nelson, the famous band composer. Ron Nelson has written many great works including Savannah River Holiday, Rocky Point, and Aspen Jubilee.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    2K views4 pages

    Nelson

    Uploaded by

    Michael Cotten
    This is a paper talking about Ron Nelson, the famous band composer. Ron Nelson has written many great works including Savannah River Holiday, Rocky Point, and Aspen Jubilee.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 4
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    The piece is a set of continuous variations built on an eight-measure melody that is stated 25 times. It utilizes the BACH motive (B-A-C-H in German notation) as counterpoint throughout.

    The piece is in 25 statements that vary the melodic line over a repeating bass. It progresses from a more fragmented style to a driving conclusion with the theme in various instruments and textures.

    The composer utilizes an octatonic scale, complex textures, an organ-like orchestration with extensive percussion, and paraphrases elements from Bach's Art of the Fugue including the BACH motive.

    Passacaglia - Homage on B-A-C-H (1993)

    Ron Nelson (b.1929, Joliet, IL)


    Ron Nelson received his bachelor of music degree in 1952, the masters degree in 1953, and
    the doctor of musical arts degree in 1956, all from the Eastman School of Music at the
    University of Rochester. He also studied in France at the Ecole Normale de Musique and
    at the Paris Conservatory under a Fulbright Grant in 1955. Dr. Nelson joined the Brown
    University faculty the following year, and taught there until his retirement in 1993. In
    1993, Nelson made history by winning all three major wind band composition awards
    the National Association Prize, the American Bandmasters Association Ostwald Prize, and
    the Sudler International Prize. He was awarded the Medal of Honor of the John Philip
    Sousa Foundation in Washington, D.C. in 1994. In 2006, he was awarded an honorary
    doctorate from Oklahoma City University.
    GENERAL INFORMATION
    Duration: c. 10:30
    Difficulty: VI (see Ratings for explanation)
    Publisher: Ludwig Music Publishing
    Cost: Score and Parts - $175.00 | Score Only - $25.00
    THE COMPOSITION
    Passacaglia (Homage on B-A-C-H) is a set of continuous variations in moderately slow triple meter built on an eightmeasure melody (basso ostinato) which is stated, in various registers, twenty-five times. It is a seamless series of
    tableux which move from darkness to light.
    Written in homage to J.S. Bach, it utilizes, as counterpoint throughout, the melodic motive represented by his name
    in German nomenclature, i.e. B-flat, A, C, and B natural. Bach introduced this motive in his unfinished Art of the
    Fugue, the textures of which are paraphrased (in an octatonic scale) in the fourth and fifth variations. The seventh
    variation incorporates Gustave Nottebohms resolution (altered) of the unfinished final fugue of The Art of Fugue. The
    famous melody from Bachs Passacaglia in C minor appears once (also altered) in variation nineteen.
    Passacaglia (Homage on B-A-C-H) was commissioned by the Eta-Omicron Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, The
    United States Air Force Band, and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Wind Studies
    Department in celebration of the 125th Anniversary of the founding of The University of Cincinnati CollegeConservatory of Music.
    Program note by Ron Nelson
    The world premiere performance was presented by the United States Air Force Band under the direction of Col. Alan
    Bonner in Corbett Auditorium at the University of Cincinnati on October 3, 1992 with the composer in attendance.
    Passacaglia was awarded the 1992 NBA Awards, the 1993 ABA-Ostwald Award, and the 1993 Sudler Award.
    The piece is written in strophic variation repeating a bass while varying the melodic line on every stanza. Another
    popular example is the chaconne in the First Suite by Holst.

    RECOMMENDED RECORDING:

    Dallas Wind Symphony


    Holidays & Epiphanies
    Jerry Junkin, conductor

    CCM Wind Symphony


    Postcards
    Eugene Corporon, conductor

    OTHER WORKS FOR BAND:


    Aspen Jubilee
    Brevard Fanfare
    Chaconne (In Memoriam)
    Concerto for Piano & Symphonic Band
    Courtly Airs and Dances
    Danza Capriccio
    Epiphanies (Fanfares and Chorales)
    Fanfare for a Celebration
    Fanfare for Kennedy Center
    Fanfare for the Hour of Sunrise
    Fanfare for the New Millennium
    Lauds (Praise High Day)
    Mayflower Overture
    Medieval Suite
    Homage to Leonin
    Homage to Perotin
    Homage to Machaut
    Morning Alleluias
    Nightsong
    Passacaglia (Homage on B-A-C-H)
    Pastorale: Autumn Rune
    Pebble Beach Sojourn
    Resonances I
    Rocky Point Holiday
    Savannah River Holiday
    Sonoran Desert Holiday
    Te Deum Laudamus
    To the Airborne

    INSTRUMENTATION
    Full Score
    Piccolo
    Flute I-II-III (Flute III doubles Alto Flute)
    Oboe I-II
    English Horn
    Bassoon I-II
    Contrabassoon
    Bb Soprano Clarinet I-II-III-IV-V-VI
    Bb Soprano Clarinet VII-VIII-IX-X-XI-XII
    Bb Bass Clarinet
    Alto Saxophone I-II
    Tenor Saxophone
    Baritone Saxophone
    Trumpet (in Bb) I-II-III-IV-V-VI
    Horn in F I-II-III-IV
    Trombone I-II-III-IV
    Euphonium
    Tuba
    String Bass
    Piano
    Synthesizer (simulating organ)
    Timpani
    Percussion I-II-III-IV, including:
    Bass Drum
    Bongos
    Crotales
    Cymbals (suspended) (2)
    Glockenspiel
    Gong (Tam-Tam)
    Marimba
    Slap Stick
    Snare Drum
    Temple Block
    Tenor Drum
    Tom-Tom
    Tubular Bells
    Vibraphone
    Xylophone

    MUSIC ELEMENTS

    Octatonic scale
    Many details in complex textures
    Musical line must be audible against all moving parts
    Orchestration is organ-like in scope and depth of sonority
    Percussion is extensive
    The right volume of the percussion is exactly at a level where you would miss the instrument if it
    dropped out
    Some passages should be mysterious, some beautiful, some revolting

    MELODY
    Octatonic01
    Bachs Art of the Fugue is paraphrased
    BACH motive used by Bach himself in Art of the Fugue
    HARMONY
    Bass sonority is also octatonic
    The octatonic contains four occurences of all interval classes
    Harmonic richness actualized the strong sense of tension and relase
    RHYTHM
    Macro rhythms tend to drag, quicker parts tend to rush
    These require subdivisions
    Ever-increasing rhythmic drive from the beginning to end
    FORM AND STRUCTURE
    SECTION
    Introduction
    Statement 1
    Statement 2
    Statement 3
    Statement 4
    Statement 5
    Statement 6
    Statement 7
    Statement 8
    Statement 9
    Statement 10
    Statement 11
    Statement 12
    Statement 13
    Statement 14
    Statement 15
    Statement 16
    Statement 17

    MEASURE
    1-9
    10-17
    18-25
    26-33
    34-41
    42-49
    50-57
    58-65
    66-73
    74-81
    82-89
    90-97
    98-105
    106-113
    114-121
    122-129
    130-137
    138-144

    EVENT/SCORING
    BACH motive; monotonic motive
    monotonic motive
    trumpet interlocking BACH statements
    inversion of above materials
    Art of Fugue
    BACH
    BACH
    Art of Fugue
    animando un poco
    variations on flute motive
    ostinato over pedal (C tonic)
    ostinato in upper range over pedal (F subdominant)
    ostinato in bass
    theme in horn, florid wind lines
    theme in English horn Art of Fugue
    Durchbrochene
    continues fragments
    Golden mean, theme in baritone, horn

    Statement 18
    Statement 19
    Statement 20

    145-153
    154-161
    162-169

    Statement 21

    170-177

    Statement 22

    178-185

    Statement 23
    Statement 24
    Statement 25

    186-193
    194-201
    202-209

    Coda

    210-222

    BACH
    Bachs theme in quint voicing
    monotonic motive theme returns to horn
    amorphous, almost directionless until the saxophones enter at 170
    fragmented theme machine begins push to end
    All other parts should hunker down in order to set up the horns @ 177. Be sure
    the planting of this seed is not overlooked; it is the beginning of the end
    theme in horn
    things should be cooking here just under a boil
    theme harmonized in low brass triads
    theme in tutti brass triads
    tutti brass triads cover C pedal
    Chimes!!!!
    BACH versus C pedals; open-fifth ending
    hold nothing in reserve! It should just about demolish the set

    SOURCES
    Stone, Thomas. PassacagliaTeaching Music Through Performance in Band. Volume 7. Richard Miles, editor. Chicago:
    GIA Publications, Inc., 2003. 870-877. Print.

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