Reperio Veritatis

Composer(s) / Arranger(s): Gary P. Gilroy

Performance Time: 5:27  |  Grade: 5  |  Style: Contemporary

Reperio Veritatis was composed specifically for the Southern California School Band and Orchestra Association 2020 High School Wind Ensemble and received its official premiere with the composer conducting on Saturday, January 18, 2020 in Garden Grove, California.

The work is dedicated to Dr. Lawrence R. Sutherland who served as Director of Bands at Fresno State from 1969 through 2006.  Before becoming Director of Bands himself in 2006, composer Gary P. Gilroy worked side by side with Dr. Sutherland from 1993 until 2006 as the Associate Director of Bands and their relationship continues to this day.  Dr. Gilroy is extremely grateful to have had such a knowledgeable mentor in the field of music.  Gilroy felt that a work dedicated to “Doc,” as he is known, is long overdue.  Composing a work for one of the finest honor bands in our country seemed like the perfect opportunity.

Dr. Sutherland is truly a consummate musician in every sense of the word.  As a professional trombonist, Dr. Sutherland performed with groups from the St. Louis Symphony to the Woody Herman and Tommy Dorsey Big Bands.  In his earliest years at Fresno State he taught all of the low brass studio players, ran the marching band, conducted the Wind Ensemble, directed the Jazz Band and taught all of the conducting classes, among other duties.  He was voted into the American Bandmasters Association in 1976 and he is the only person in the history of California who served as Conductor/Director for the California All-State Orchestra, All-State Jazz Band, and the All-State Symphonic Band and Wind Symphony.  His university ensembles played all over the world and at every major convention. And his groups always perform at a most impressive level.  He certainly gets the most from his musicians as a conductor.  In retirement, Dr. Sutherland continues to adjudicate all over the world and guest conduct ensembles, both bands and orchestras, at impressive venues such as the Midwest Clinic in Chicago, Illinois. 

Reperio Veritatis, or ‘finding the truth’ in music has always been his goal and Dr. Sutherland considers this to be one of the primary reasons for his tremendous successes throughout his long and distinguished career.  Regarding the title of this new work, Dr. Sutherland wrote the following:

I have always searched for the “truth” in music. Finding the truth, for me, starts with the score. Mahler, for instance, gives a lot of specifics—Bach, not so much.  So it’s up to you to do the research necessary to find what the truth is for you.  Any valid performance rests on one’s total musical experience.  How much music of different styles and periods you have played determines the depth and imagination you bring to your interpretation.  Seek the truth; find the truth—reperio veritatis.