There are lots of people who helped influence the wind band. Of these many composers James Clifton Williams and Robert E. Jager are two of those great composers that have heavily influenced the past. These composers have also greatly affected the history of music by making over 100 popular compositions. These two men have greatly contributed to the wind band by their contributions .
James Williams was born in Arkansas in March 1923 and died in February 1976 in Florida. James attended Little Rock high school where he had learned several different instruments and studied music. James had earned an award from the school for being the most outstanding in artistry, talent, and versatility in his graduating class. He spent 17 years at the University of Texas teaching composition. Later in life, he became chair of composition at the University of Miami. He was later awarded several awards and known to be a great composer. James influenced several compositions and the wind band itself. His career ultimately took off when his two compositions Allegro and Fanfare won the inaugural Ostwald Award given by the American Bandmasters’. One example of how he influence and impacted the band is he wrote over three dozen compositions to the wind band. All of which are heavily continued to be played today in high school and college bands. Another way he influences the band is how he wrote a magnificent five movement piece called the Symphonic Suite this piece also won him an award following his previous awards. James has also composed the current song we are performing called Dedicatory Overture. James style of music is most unique where he makes each movement in his compositions different and uses all different types of emotion. Several examples of these emotions are when he will go from a very intense movement to be a very light and up tempo movement like represented in Dedicatory Overture from the middle of the first movement until it changes to a very peaceful and up tempo beat at the end.
Robert E. Jager was another great composer who has influenced a great deal of the bands.
Robert was born August 1939 in New York. He went to college at the University of Michigan then after he went into the navy. In the navy, Robert “served for four years and he became the staff arranger/composer for the Armed Forces School of Music”. Later in his life, he taught for thirty years at the University of Tennessee. “He also credits over 150 works for several different areas like band, orchestra and even chorus”. He has been recognized all over the world even in the Republic of China and Tokyo.
Jager has also been recognized by several organizations and colleges over America and along with that, he has also conducted all over the world as well. His work has even been performed by the national symphony orchestra which is a very big deal. Jager has shown that he has made a very big footprint in the music industry and has proven to be a very big influence on the wind band and music in general. Jager is the only three-time winner of the American Bandmasters Association “Ostwald Award”. Jager has achieved the Roth award and received the distinguished service to music medal. Jager composed the third suite which we are also performing.
The third suite is a magnificent three-movement piece that starts with a march and goes to change with each movement.
In the wind band literature the three terms march,suite and overture vary greatly.
The term march, is a musical form that consists of a strong first beat in a seperated and fast tempo fashion. Most march’s in today’s music are used in military connotation and is not intended for actual marching. March style music has mainly stayed the same over time with minimal change.
The term suite, originated in the paired dances of the 14th-16th centuries which evolved through the years in the 17th and 18th centuries consisting of dance movements into the 19th and 20th centuries it became primarily used in instrumental music and in plays like Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream an ballet music used in the Nutcracker suite and the Firebird suites.
The term overture, comes from the french word “ouverture” which means opening. It is a type of musical composition that can be the opening of a composition or it can be a independent instrumental work.
It is an instrumental work that is the introduction to something bigger. Dating back to the 17th century the overtures had a slow and a fast section and would not be heard again in the composition. Several example of this is in the beginning of a movie or a TV show it can also start a opera or a musical.
There is a possibility you could hear a march at the beginning of a suite just like in the Third Suite.
Clifton Williams used an overture in his piece Dedicatory Overture as an individual composition. He also has another piece named Variation Overture where he uses all of the terms in his piece from overture to aspects of a suite and the opening musical form of a slow march.
Robert Jager uses suite and march in his piece the third suite.Jager compared to williams only used two of the terms compared williams using all as he incorporated these elements into his composition.