Releases Repertoire © 2008 Imani Winds		Sample Program I  •   Sample Program II Repertoire The music of Imani Winds ranges from the standard wind quintet repertoire to works by composers from around the globe. We have compiled an extensive collection of program notes written for Imani Winds. Click HERE to view a PDF file. Please feel free to use them, with the appropriate credit where applicable. Here are just a few examples of the broad range of the Imani Winds repertoire. VColeman Concerto for Wind Quintet (notes by VColeman) Born September 3rd, 1970 in Louisville, KY Valerie Coleman began her musical studies at the age of 11 and by 14 had already composed three symphonies. She studied at Boston University and the Mannes College of Music in New York. She is the resident composer, founder, and flutist of the Imani Winds and is on the faculty of the Juilliard School of Music Advancement Program. The Afro-Cuban Concerto for Wind Quintet and Orchestra was premiered by the New Haven Symphony under the direction of Jung-Ho Pak in the 2003-4 season. This is the work to be heard here in its chamber version for wind quintet alone. Regarding this work the composer writes: "Concerto for Winds infuses orchestral music with Afro-Cuban musical idioms, while reintroducing the concept of wind quintet as solo ensemble to the orchestral stage. In this three-movement work, the wind quintet mimics Afro-Cuban percussion instruments and traditional vocal sounds, using "wailing" melodies and rhythms at the root of Afro-Cuban music. "The quintet-only version was written for Imani Winds out of VColeman's desire to expand the sonorous possibilities of the traditional wind quintet and a belief in flexibility in performance situations. This version was premiered in November 2001 by Imani Winds at their Carnegie hall debut. The full orchestral version has been performed by both the New Haven Symphony under the baton of Maestro Jung-Ho Pak and the Interlochen Music Festival Orchestra under the baton of Lawrence Leighton Smith." Gyorgy Ligeti Ten Pieces for Wind Quintet (notes by Dr. Richard E. Rodda) Born May 23, 1923 in Dicsoszentmarton, Hungary Died June 12, 2006 in Vienna, Austria "I wrote the Ten pieces for Wind Quintet in 1968 after all of the [Bartok-influenced] Six Bagatelles, composed in 1953, had finally been performed together by the Stockholm Philharmonic Wind Quintet in October 1968. In the meantime, my musical horizons had changed. Though not substantially broader, they had definitely shifted. "Back in 1955, when I was still in Budapest, I had begun working with the "twelve-tone system" - it was in fashion, and even in isolated Hungary there were a few artists who wanted to be up-to-date. Later on, after I really got to know the Second Viennese School and serialism, I gradually relinquished my belief in such total chromaticism. From 1958 on - still caught up in the chromatic mindset - I developed structures based on "polyphonicnets," music with a weblike character… After 1965, I experimented with interwoven polyphonic textures of lesser complexity. In 1968 I worked on the Ten Pieces. "The number of movements comes from the idea of composing a small, virtuosic concertino piece for each of the five instruments, with five ensemble pieces for balance. The "concerto movements" are No. 2 for clarinet, No.4 for flute, No. 6 for oboe, No. 8 for horn, and No. 10 for bassoon. The ninth piece is an ensemble piece for piccolo, oboe, and clarinet only. These three instruments can produce a piercing sound in the upper register. I deliberately exploited the effect of combination tones (specifically, difference tones): pitches not actually fingered by the instrumentalists, but which result from them playing together. I heard this acoustic phenomenon as a young child, when several girls with high voices would sing Hungarian folk songs in less than perfect unison: it was an amazing sound, much lower than the one being sung or played, and one does not know from which direction it is coming. As a child I was baffled. It was not until I worked in the Electronic Music Studio [of the West German Radio in Cologne] that I learned how to create such sounds on purpose. "In writing the five short concertino pieces, I used all my knowledge of the five wind instruments, checking the most adventurous passages in rehearsal to see if they could be played. Courting danger, I wrote pieces that pushed the boundaries of possibility. This is not virtuosity for its own sake, but rather in the service of formal plans of tension and extreme expression. My goal was to create something new, not in terms of performance practices (such as novel concert dress or unusual placement of the performers) but rather from within the very sound of the music." Jeff Scott Homage to Duke (notes author unknown) Born September 1st, 1968 in Brooklyn, NY Written by Imani Winds' own Jeff Scott, Homage to Duke gets its melodic roots from Duke Ellington's gospel hymn "Come Sunday", but manipulates the harmony and rhythm of the original song. Scott flirts with plainchant, uses modern classical dissonance, and incorporates the stylistic properties of rhythm and blues. He also follows Ellington by writing not only for particular instruments but also for the personalities of particular players. According to Scott, this procedure results here in "expansive rubato moments and impassioned soulfulness". Heitor Villa-Lobos Quintette en Forme de Choros (notes author unknown) Born March 5th, 1887 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Died November 17th, 1959 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Heitor Villa-Lobos is perhaps the most celebrated Brazilian composer of all time. His work not only richly typifies the diverse and kaleidoscopic Brazilian scene but also, in its abundance, originality, and vitality, provided the key which unlocked Brazilian art music once and for all from the shackles of European late-Romanticism. After the death of his father in 1899, Villa-Lobos, determined to escape the medical career planned for him by his mother, spent time playing (probably cello and guitar) in the ad hoc musical groups which performed and improvised in Rio de Janeiro's cafes, on street corners, and at parties and weddings. He then traveled in Brazil, absorbing musical influences from his country's three main ethnic strands-Portuguese, African and Amerindian. This all resulted in the realization that the glorious aural amalgam which so impressed his soul was indeed the means by which concert music in Brazil would be revitalized and given a voice of its own. After some success and much controversy as a composer in Brazil, Villa-Lobos made his way in 1923 to Paris, at that time the cultural center of Europe, where every aspiring musician, artist and writer felt it obligatory at least to put in an appearance. The artistic ambience of Paris during the 1920s was particularly suitable for the acceptance and promotion of Villa-Lobos during his subsequent periods of residence there, until a final departure in 1930. Indeed, even before his own arrival several of his works were heard and applauded in the French capital, played by his compatriots or by European artists who had met the composer in Brazil. African music and jazz were particularly in vogue and the strange sounds of the music of the East so beloved by Debussy and Ravel still echoed loudly. The clear-cut, quixotic melodies of Milhaud and Poulenc were favored, while Stravinsky's rhythmic vitality affected everyone. Villa-Lobos's highly colored, strangely conceived, and rhythmically assured music thus found an ideal home in Paris during the 1920s. Villa-Lobos wrote the Quintette en Forme de Choros while living in Paris. It is based on the Brazilian improvisatory dance form called choros that only narrowly preceded jazz in the U.S. Villa-Lobos returned to the choros many times during his career, raising the form to a concert level never before heard. A typical choros starts out slowly and gradually builds to a dramatic climax. This piece is a tour-de-force for the entire ensemble. The players usually demonstrate an embellished introduction before a rhythmic section with unpredictable harmonic changes. Technically, the Quintette was originally intended for flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and English horn, but is usually performed now with French horn. top of page