calebhugo

Gotchya. Concerts are well attended within the richest metropolitan areas of the richest countries in the world. "Slander - a malicious, false, and defamatory statement or report: a slander against his good name." Sorry, I didn't realize a difference in opinion was so offensive. I won't disagree with you again. :) Sorry we got off topic guys.

Because the past generation of composers stopped listening to the masses, and that's why our concert halls are empty (comparatively to the past). Our responsibility is to influence our society for the better, not cut it off from us. If no one wants to listen to us, then what good are we and we should society support us financially? By harder I mean more expressive elements. Grace notes, runs, flourishes of color, impressive crescendos, etc.

Your formal structure make sense and people can latch onto it. Listen to it over and over again, making little changes (particularly to the horn part) as you go. You'll find that as you keep changing it, the work will evolve into something much greater and more interesting. Listen to more popular music. Find music of the masses that is tasteful and listen like crazy. You will instantly create sounds that people love while you're still expressing yourself in a way that is you. Make the horn part way harder, but doable. It's a concerto, it needs to be impressive. Consult a player and ask if things are possible. Study the fingers and the physics of the instrument so that you can write impressive sounding figures that are idiomatic. So my advice: Polish and research. And never throw a piece away. Just keep making it better until you're not good enough to make it any better. Right now I think you are good enough to make it better; therefore it's not finished. And lastly, don't ever quit for even a day. -caleb

I just wanted to let you all know how much it means to me to be getting so much positive feedback. I am deeply thankful for your kind words. Also, a slightly lesser thank you is in order for causing this thread to have the second slot on google when you type in "alto saxophone and wind band." I didn't think that would happen for years. Now I'm going to have to polish it some more with these comments in mind. Thanks again, -caleb

A major problem that I am encountering as I am attempting to get into the music industry is that the more obscure composers are extremely difficult to discover. It

:blush: Why thank you. :)

Dr. Tiffany Engle at Calvin College premiered this piece with the Cornerstone University wind ensemble. The recording isn't very good (it is live after all), but I will post it here to prove that it can be done. Although I had to rewrite the double F# for her. I don't know how I can play that high, it just kinda happens. Don't try it, you'll hurt yourself. ;) Click here for the premiere performance. Yes, she is "a hell of a sax player." And I will openly admit that I had 7 gigs of WAV file in my mac by the time I was done making this recording. I am capable of playing it, but in pieces. :blush:

Transition: concerto for alto saxophone and wind band Click here to hear this recording. Download my cd for FREE. Hear about new music: websight, calebhugo@calebhugo.com, Facebook, blog RSS, youtube I did not include a full score because I want to sell it. I have compromised by providing the saxophone part. Performance notes: This Concerto features an extremely difficult saxophone part utilizing the saxophone's countless timbres, agility, and altissimo register. The performer must have an acute sense of rhythmic precision a very strong upper range; like any other concerto in history the soloist must be an extremely accomplished musician. There are also special effects that are particular to the woodwind family including multi-phonics and quarter tone trills. This being my second large work it carries a few a problems that I may fix in years to come, but at this point I do not have the skill the make it any better. However, the main problem that I am aware of is that the density of the orchestration can sometimes cause the sound to be unclear, particularly in darker halls. When combined with the soloist, this can be problematic depending on timbres that the performer uses. If the performer generally has a dark sound, the soloist will be overpowered, particularly in the second movement. This can compensated for by the performer using a brighter timbre during these densely scored sections, performing in a brighter hall, telling the band to switch to one on a part, or by artificial amplification. Be sure to consult a sound engineer on how to amplify the soloist if you choose this solution. Musical interpretation: The title of this work has two meanings. In one sense it is the representation of life in general going through change. In order to settle upon a contented state, one must not fight the changes they go through in life but rather change their attitude towards their new surroundings. It is not our circumstances that make us happy, but our attitude towards our surroundings that governs how we feel. After all, a person can have everything in the world going their way and still be unhappy. I have attempted to capture this concept with this work. My suggestion to see this in the music is to think of the saxophone as a person seeking contentment and the band as the person's environment (I hope you now see why I have chosen to not thin the orchestration). On the other hand, this work is a perfect representation of how I have viewed life throughout the year of June 2007 through June 2008. I listen to this work and remember days and times that I assign to certain sections of the piece, some of which are documented in my journal. I will obviously not go into depth about this, but I will leave this by saying that I learned a lot that year. In a sense you can say that this piece is about growing up; the attitudes of a person before they start to mature, the pain that is required to mature, and then finally looking at the world through eyes that are seeking deeper understanding. In any case, the work represents a person painfully transitioning into a new and better outlook on life. Thanks for your interest. Feedback on the recording quality and my playing are of course welcome along with the composition itself. Caleb Hugo calebhugo.com. Download my cd: Prelude. calebhugo@calebhugo.com, Facebook, blog RSS, youtube Transition-Solo part.pdf