2019 Marching Band: Composer's Insight
Writing a marching band show is probably one of the most satisfying projects I've taken on recently, especially when the final product being released on GPG Music is represented so well by live winds and brass, a team of experienced drill writers and concept developers, and a marketing team that is exceptional at what they do for composers like myself. Immortal Beloved is my first foray into the world of composition for Marching Band, and I have the wonderful team at GPG to thank for making this publication a reality.
Crafting the musical narrative structure of Immortal Beloved was a month-long process. It began with the opener ("Fur Elise"). I envisioned winds and brass facing backfield in opening set as the front ensemble begins (like a music box). The full band drag turns to face the audience with a powerful statement of his 5th Symphony motif, reharmonized for impact, to capture the intensity of this sound on the field and set the stage for an energetic vision of the composer we know and love.
After drafting the opener, I researched marching shows featuring classical composers and concepts to determine what might work with this opening, eventually committing to a concept that featured many of Beethoven's greatest hits - like Moonlight Sonata, the First Movement of his 5th Symphony, the 2nd Movement from his 7th Symphony, and the Final Movement of his 9th Symphony. Throughout this, my ongoing goal was to create a show that would make Beethoven exciting to everyone experiencing the show - the players and the audience alike.
The show began to write itself, and I took particular care to reach Beethoven's most popular ideas at an energetic pace. The energy of Immortal Beloved propels us forward from moment to moment, which was a mostly intuitive process of internalizing his musical expression in the contemporary context of a marching band performance. I remember writing the second movement of the show featuring the opening piano theme of Moonlight Sonata and hearing a theme emerge from it that Beethoven didn't even write. It was evocative and complementary to the work, and it completely changed the direction of the movement from where I thought I might take it.
In arranging for the battery and front ensemble, many rhythmic decisions between winds and percussion were made to create continuity between winds and battery on the field. In reflection, I'm pleased with how the battery drives the momentum of this show without being overly complex. Every rhythm in the battery is basic, easy to understand, yet might seem challenging to execute at the tempo of the show on the field. As a percussionist myself, I believe drumlines will thoroughly enjoy performing this show.
The Wind and Brass parts are crafted to be familiar to performers with 2+ years of experience on their instruments. The highest note of the show on 1st Trumpet is a high C in the final movement, and due diligence was given to intonation considerations in all wind and brass parts throughout the composition process. One of the approaches to the low brass in the final movement of the show that I think works pretty well was to align the rhythm of the low brass to that of the bass drum line. This way, the articulations of the winds are enhanced by the impacts of the battery. This breaks up the monotony of playing whole note block chords and running out of air but also added to the drive of the final movement while giving low brass players more interesting content.
Once the entire show was drafted in Finale, I sent the draft to Steve Martin at GPG Music. GPG has been very supportive in publishing my works for concert band, and I know this company to have a great reputation for publishing shows for Marching Band. To me, bringing this to GPG was a no-brainer because they take such great care to make the product pristine in every way. Over the course of two weeks and three conference calls with Steve, we adapted the orchestration to the standards of GPG, just in time for the deadline to record the show with live wind and brass players for the 2020 catalog.
I'm grateful to the entire staff at GPG Music for their continued support of my music, and I'm proud to present Immortal Beloved to the wonderful community of band directors across America and beyond who are planning their next marching band season. Thank you for all that you do for the world of music and the students who will cherish these wonderful years with you and your band program for the rest of their lives! I'm honored to be a part of this music community and wish you all the best in success!
Check out all of Shaun's works here!