Brass, Reeds, and Percussion

Henry Fillmore was such a prolific composer that he used several different pseudonyms. This made his father’s publishing house in Cincinnati look like it had more composers than it actually did, a tactic that was apparently used to increase sales.

In recognition of Black History Month and to celebrate Mardi Gras, you’ll hear performances by Bunk Johnson and Sidney Bechet on today’s edition of Brass Reeds as we go way down yonder in New Orleans. Before there was Louis Armstrong or King Oliver, the hot trumpet player was Bunk Johnson, the King of the Blues. Before there was Benny Goodman or Artie Shaw, the hot clarinet player was Sidney Bechet.

Pál Kinizsi lived from 1432 to 1494 and was a Hungarian general serving under king Matthias Corvinus. Starting out as a son of a miller, he became a count in what is now part of Romania and Serbia. He commanded King Mathias' famed Black Army when it defeated the Ottomans in the Battle of Breadfield in October 1479. He reputedly never lost a battle. Wielding two swords when he fought, he is often referred to as the Hungarian Hercules. Julius Fucik, the Czech march king, dedicated a march to this Hungarian folk hero.

Arrangements of orchestral works for wind band are more commonly known as transcriptions. So this edition of Brass, Reeds, and Percussion features wind-band arrangements—or transcriptions—of opera music. The practice of arranging orchestral music for wind band began as early as 1775 when opera music was arranged for the harmonie, most typically an octet of two oboes, two clarinets, two horns, and two bassoons.

Making arrangements of the works of Johan Sebastian Bach has a long history. Both Mozart and Beethoven made arrangements of Bach’s works. In the 1930s, Leopold Stokowski popularized Bach by arranging his compositions for orchestra. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that there are numerous wind-band transcriptions of Bach works. In truth, if you’re not going to play a Bach organ composition on the organ, the next best thing is probably to have a band play it.

A personal note from John Hightower: Back when I was in college and worked in commercial top-40 radio, I worked on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day for 6 straight years. When it comes to traditional Christmas music, I’ve just about heard every recording of Christmas music by every popular artist there is. So I hope you won’t be disappointed with today’s edition of Brass, Reeds, and Percussion because it will be Christmas music that you’ve probably never heard before.

In 1870, Philip Egner was born to German immigrant parents in New York City. He began to study the violin at age 6, but later switched to cello. When the Spanish-American War broke out, he joined the army and was made bandmaster of the 17th Infantry Regiment. After spending the war in the Philippines, he returned to New York and eventually became the bandmaster of the West Point Army Band, which is composed to enlisted army musicians, not cadets.

Estonian wind band music is featured on this edition of Brass, Reeds, and Percussion. Eduard Tamm is a composer from the Baltic country of Estonia and lived from 1879 to 1941. As a child, he studied violin and cornet. He became a cadet in the 92nd Infantry Regiment and then went to the St. Petersburg Conservatory, where he became a French hornist and earned a position in the Russian Imperial Orchestra. After the Russian October Revolution in 1917, he conducted the St. Petersburg Militia Band. He is credited with writing the first march by an Estonian.

Today's edition of Brass, Reeds, and Percussion features a wind-band arrangment of "Till Eulenspiegel" composed by Richard Strauss. In 1895, Richard Strauss wrote a tone poem that tells the story of a traditional German literary character dating back to 1510. In the original book, Till Eulenspiegel travels about the Holy Roman Empire during the 1300s, playing practical jokes and exposing vices at every turn. In the book, he dies from the plague.

Frank Watz is a Romanian composer born in 1949. His music is published by the prestigious Rundel music publishing house of Austria. He attended Cluj University in Transylvania. Yes, that really is part of Romania. His family taught him how to play the flugelhorn and accordian. In high school\s, he played clarinet and piano. At university, he played the tuba.