Wind Orchestra & Solo Concerts

Remembrance is the first symphony for symphonic band of Carlos Pellicer and has been commissioned by the Societat Filharmónica Alteanense as a piece of obligatory interpretation for the 45th edition of the Certamen Internacional de Bandas de Música ‘Villa de Altea’ which, under the slogan ‘Una dona del poble: Carmelina Sánchez-Cutillas’ (a woman of the town: Carmelina Sánchez-Cutillas), will be dedicated to women, to gender equality and in particular to the figure of this writer from Alicante. In this way, the Remembrancesymphony is built from the novel that possibly represents Sanchez-Cutillas: ‘Matèria de Bretanya’, no doubt the novel that has become, is and will be the reference book for all the Alteans. Its premiere will be next December in the Palau Altea of the same town during the celebration of this International Contest of Music Bands.

The title ‘Dis-TENSIONS-diS’ is a game (or pun) with the words tension and distension (relaxation). The work stems from a ‘Leitmotiv’ presented at the beginning of the work by the warm sound of the bassoon. So from this melody draws all small parts for maximum re-use like elements of cohesion in different parts of the work. Hence the inevitable game of ‘tension and relaxation’ that occurs from such re-use of the same subject, but with a multitude of possible variations.

Dis-TENSIONS-diS received a Mencion de Honor at the Italian Concorso Internazionale di Composizione Originale per Banda 2009.

Sequences for Band is constructed from several melodic sequences that converge independently of each other on many occasions but sometimes also agree together. The work is divided into three distinct and well contrasted parts: the first and third part are mostly eclectic and with great force whereas the second part is used to relax the musical discourse.

Sequences for Band was awarded with the First Prize of the prestigious International Contest for Original Band Composition in Corciano, Italy 2013.

The original version for orchestra was written in 2012 for the Proclamation of Benigànim Festival (Valencia). Adapted and revised in 2013 for symphonic band, it was premiered in Burriana (Castellón) on October 6, 2013 by the Federal Band of the Federation of Musical Societies of the Valencian Community under the direction of the maestro Rafel Garrigós in the Awards Gala Euterpe of Music 2013.

It is a brief but very intense piece. Designed to open or close any act such as a concert, a commemoration or a proclamation. After an energetic introduction the flute only introduces the main theme of the work. An expressive and emotive subject at the same time culminating with the reexposure of the introduction but with a final variation worthy of any apotheosis. On the day of its premiere, the end of the piece was accompanied by a large fireworks castle!

Although the bandoneon is an instrument born in Europe, specifically in Germany, it is inevitable not to associate its characteristic sound with the most representative music of the Rio de la Plata, in the southern cone of the South American continent. The currently best-known repertoire throughout the world is evidence of the relative youth of the instrument and its roots in this part of the planet.

But despite the immense possibilities that this instrument has,  the repertoire for string orchestra and especially for wind orchestra is still very scarce. Even more so the repertoire with original compositions written in concert format for this instrument as soloist and band formation, and not other more popular, well-known and commonly adapted or arranged musical genres or styles.

Stravaganza is a double concert focused on exploiting to the maximum the possibilities of the trumpet but above all of the bandoneon, without any fear or prejudice of being able to play a demanding role as on countless other occasions other more common instruments play. A role to demonstrate the wide expressive, technical and musical spectrum, in short, that this instrument can offer, all without losing sight of the unmistakable references that have traditionally nurtured it: recognizable musical melodies, rhythmic sequences and South American essence.

The role of the trumpet is a pure exercise in contrast between two musical conceptions that both solo instruments play in most of the work, although at some points they come together in the same way, delivered to an ‘extravagant’ conjunction.

And both predominant instruments are always well supported by the rest of the wind orchestra, with the intention of taking advantage of its most powerful, unique sound possibilities, and that differentiate it from the rest of the instrumental formations. On this occasion tradition, contrast and originality try to go hand in hand from start to finish.

Stravaganza is a commission from the Confederación Española de Sociedades Musicales – CESM (Spanish Confederation of Musical Societies), carried out in 2022.

Hemispheric Concerto is a work for tuba solo and concert band, dedicated and commissioned by the prestigious international tubista Ricardo Carvalhoso, soloist of the Münchner Philharmoniker (Munich Philharmonic Orchestra). The conception of the word ‘hemisphere’ and how the individual parts come together to form a larger and more perfect whole, has been one of the main axes when composing this committed work for the band. Undoubtedly, today we can apply this concept to a multitude of elements, approaches and geographical, scientific and even musical reasoning. But surely the most concise and perhaps most perfect example of this concept is that which science applies to each of the structures that make up the human brain. The two halves, or hemispheres that make it up, have an inverse character and are asymmetrical. Among other capacities, the left hemisphere controls the functions of speech, the ability to write, makes it possible to understand numbering and allows us to understand mathematics and logic: causal reasoning. The hemisphere on the right side, on the other hand, is characterized by being the center of nonverbal viso-spatial abilities, more linked to feelings, sensations and in general to perception. Despite the obvious separation of both hemispheres, they also have characteristics that allow continuous communication with each other, and in this way they share skills such as the recognition of words, objects and, above all, the formation of memory and its recovery. Each perceives reality in its own way, but neither is more important than the other. To be able to perform a task we need both hemispheres, pretending the balance.

Hemispheric Concerto aims to reflect all this structuring through the fundamental concepts of causal reasoning, memory recovery, perception and balance in general. All this musically related from the main melodic elements that are born fundamentally in the second movement of the work (Lost memory) and that are shared equally in the first and third (Allegro Causal and Allegro Perceptual), resembling the functioning of the brain human.

It is important to highlight the importance of the second one in particular ‘Lost memory’. Surely we all know or have suffered with someone close to us the terrible drama that can become memory loss, or even heartbreaking Alzheimer’s disease. It is precisely in that part shared between both hemispheres of the human brain where these problems with memory begin. In the same way, in Hemispheric Concerto this is the shared part between the first and third movement of the work, and where all the excitement and drama of these terrible diseases is spilled. The rest of the work is constructed on the basis of a strong language on many occasions, trying to reflect that so perfect and so “balanced” complexity of the human brain through musical discourse.

Chocolat!’ is a piece written for solo trumpet, two percussionists and concert band with style inspired by funk and jazz music. The name, comes from the nickname of trumpet player Raúl Garcia ‘Chocolate’. It consists of a main part that is repeated in the third part of the work and a central part only where percusionitas and solo trumpet can openly vary the music initially proposed by the composer, totally ad libitum. It can also be interpreted as it is written. With a very current character, it is an ideal piece to complete a concert of original and different form. The level of the piece for the belt is 3-4. But ‘Chocolat!’ is more than another musical work for band, IS A PROJECT.

It is a work divided into three movements which are related to the development and “tasting” of a good gastronomic menu. The titles of these movements (L’Apéritif, La spécialité du Chef and “American pie”, le grand finale) are related to the content, character and rhythm of each dish prepared for this original menu: a short but intense starter, a main dish with different textures but very consistent, and a good dessert with a lot of flavor and a lot of rhythm.

World Chain Premiere

 This is an original and new initiative never realized: the “premiere in chain” of a band composition. 

 The idea is born of the composer  himself: “For some time now I’ve been thinking about being able to carry out a project of these characteristics, to make a chain debut of one of my works. A premiere in each country. Only one premiere in each country”.

The name ‘JAD-A-DAJ’ comes from a combination of several compositional resources, hence the subtitle ‘eclectic dialogues for band’. The music responds to a pure work of analysis and more specifically to the search to exploit contrasts in the wide range of sounds provided by the wind instruments and percussion. After stopovers in the Neapolitan scale Mayor and trying to obtain quarters for chords using all notes of that scale, I got a chord in which the interval appears completely symmetrical: it is what some composers have called ‘closed cycle of fourths’.

JAD-A-DAJ received a 2nd prize at the Italian Concorso Internazionale di Composizione originale per banda 2009

FLASH, suite for wind band, was written in 2015. The work that names the first monographic CD of the wind music of Carlos Pellicer “Flash”, is written and dedicated to the Agrupació Musical Sta. Cecília d’Ador, Valencia, for the celebration of its 125th anniversary. 

The work is structured in three movements: Overture, is built with a solid sonority combining different styles. Loving time, is much more classic and with great expressiveness. It differentiates two independent sub parts and a third that interrelates the two previous, inspired by two people of great importance for the author, his wife Natalia and his son Àlex. The work closes with a movement much more effective and brilliant, Adornian finale, name derived from the locality of Ador, to which belongs the Agrupació Musical Sta. Cecília d’Ador.

This CD gathers some of the most important works of the composer edited by the Dutch publishing house Molenaar Edition.

On November 13th 1985 the town of Armero in Columbia was literally swept away. It was bombarded by an avalanche of mud and stones set off by the melting of glaciers caused by the soon-to-erupt Volcano Nevado del Ruiz. This composition is dedicated to then 13 year old, Omaira Sanchez, one of the more than 23,000 victims of this disaster. The version for bass trombón was released in April of 2013 by the Banda Municipal de Castellón under the direction of José Vte. Ramón Segarra and Javier Colomer (Bass trombone solo). The version for tenor trombone was released in December 2013 by the Banda Municipal de Pinto under the direction of Jose Antonio Blasco and Ximo Vicedo (solo tenor trombone – ORTVE).

Euphoric City is a work that was commissioned by the Heart of Texas Concert Band to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the founding of the city of San Antonio that was commemorated throughout the year 2018. Its premiere was on May 6, 2018 for the Heart of Texas Concert Band conducted by Carlos Pellicer. It has a clearly ‘euphoric’ character but at the same time with a certain feeling. San Antonio de Texas is located in an area of the southern United States that throughout its history has suffered great wars and major transformations. Without a doubt, a city that has evolved by giant steps during these 300 years to become one of the most important and representative cities in the United States.