Concert Band, Wind Orchestra, Solo with Band Grade 5

ALENAR is a commission from the Sanganxa Music Store, to be premiered at the concert celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2025. The entire work is focused on the most conceptual meaning of the word ‘alenar’, a word common to the romance languages ​​of Valencian or Catalan (spoken on the eastern coast of Spain), and which refers to the way of taking a deep breath, and then releasing it with the same intensity. Without a doubt, one of the ways of breathing to play a wind instrument such as the trumpet is to alenar continuously, and deeply. Hence the importance of this word to give title to a work with this instrument as a soloist. At up to three points in the score, all musicians are instructed to do the same thing, to take a deep breath before playing. There are three metaphorical variations based on the word alenar itself, which serve to structure the work in three very different parts: alenar is to take a breath in order to breathe, alenar is to gather momentum, in order to survive, alenar, is to get away from a fear, or a pain.

Magnetic’ is in no way a musical work based on physics or mathematics, but rather on that difficult to explain ability that some instruments have, including the horn. A magnetic ability to transmit warmth or forcefulness in equal parts, something that hooks those who listen to it. The various parts of the work, right from the introduction, are in fact totally opposite poles that seek complementarity in the global sense of the work. An indefinite, ambiguous introduction that only seeks to forcefully present one of the main parts of the work to later dilute itself in the most ethereal and natural warmth possible starting from the most useful register of the horn, the perfect register for the maximum expressiveness of this brass instrument. ‘Magnetic’ was commissioned by the International Horn Congress 2024 (CITGUAD) to be premiered during the celebration of this congress in December 2024, by the Societat Unió Musical Santa Cecília de Guadassuar and the solo horn of the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra: Antonio Lasheras Torres.

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!

This work it’s a tribute to one of the most important and transcendental musicians of the 20th century, the director and composer Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (1882-1971), taking as main reference, one of the most important compositions that the russian composer wrote for wind instruments, his ‘Octet for Wind Instruments’. Stravinsky himself conducted the premiere of the Octet, at the Paris Opera House, on 18 October 1923. ‘Retrospective’ was presented in Spain on 21 October 2023 to commemorate exactly this centenary.

The 3 main themes that ‘Retrospective’ draws on are: the original theme of the second movement of I. Stravinsky’s ‘Octet for Wind Instruments’ (Tema con Variazioni), its retrogression (which is the theme that gives the most meaning to the own title, to retrograde is also ‘throw back’), and thirdly, a variation based on the retrogradation of the original theme.

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 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.

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 Colombia, 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.