Maestro Band Series
Grade III
Duration 6:20
Purchase Score Only
INSTRUMENTATION
Piccolo
Flute 1, 2, 3
Oboe 1, 2
Bassoon 1, 2
Contrabassoon
Eb Clarinet
Bb Clarinet 1, 2, 3
Alto Clarinet (optional)
Bass Clarinet
Contrabass Clarinet
Alto Saxophone 1, 2
Tenor Saxophone
Baritone Saxophone
Bb Trumpet 1, 2, 3, 4
Horn 1, 2
Trombone 1, 2
Bass Trombone
Euphonium
(Baritone T.C.)
Tuba
Contrabass
Timpani (4)
Percussion 1 (glockenspiel, medium triangle)
Percussion 2 (xylophone, slapstick, ratchet)
Percussion 3 (snare drum, woodblock, small triangle)
Percussion 4 (bass drum, crash cymbals, tambourine)
Percussion 5 [optional] (claves)
PROGRAM NOTES
Pieces of Eight is based on two sea shanties, Bold Manning and Andrew Barton, both of which are highly reminiscent of what we now recognize as Pirate Music. The piece is in the spirit of high seas adventures and Saturday matinee pirates. The California Band Directors Association commissioned the work for their 50th anniversary in 2007.
ABOUT THE COMPOSER
Carolyn Bremer (b. 1957) has been dubbed a composer "driven by hobgoblins of post modernist cant." Bremer came to composition on the heels of intensive training as an orchestral bassist. Her catalogue contains works based on baseball (Early Light), Charles Ives & surfing (Malibu Danbury) and postmodern theory (Adventures in Hyperreality).
Bremer has had performances of her works at Carnegie Hall; in Germany, Norway, and Sweden; on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, and for the gala 150th anniversary concert at West Point. Her consortium-commissions include Symphony for Wind Band, premiered by Ray Cramer at Indiana University and Returns of the Day, premiered by Thomas Dvorak at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. CDs include the North Texas Symphonic Winds, El Paso Wind Symphony, the Heritage of American Band of the US Air Force, the Illinois Wind Symphony, and the Monarch Brass Ensemble.
Bremer studied at the Eastman School of Music, CalArts, and received the Ph.D. in composition from UCSB. She was Chair of Composition at the University of Oklahoma from 1991-2000 where she held the Sandra and Brian O'Brien Presidential Professorship. Currently, she is Professor of Composition and Theory at California State University Long Beach.
