Fanfare for Wild Youthful Occasions - for symphonic band
Year: 2022
Grade: 5
Duration: 4:30
Purchase: Murphy Music Press
Recording: Texas Christian University Symphonic Band | Brian Youngblood, Conductor
Original “Long” Program Notes by Composer
It is a huge honor to have been commissioned to compose a work for the Fort Worth Youth Orchestra, an organization with a nearly-sixty-year history of providing to young musicians the opportunity to gain myriad skills and to pursue excellence through musical performance. In late 2021, FWYO founded its new wind ensemble and brought in Brian Youngblood, Associate Director of Bands at Texas Christian University, to conduct the newly formed group. When Mr. Youngblood secured his new position, I was beyond honored that he'd think of me to compose a work for the group. He pitched the idea to the FWYO Board of Directors, who graciously and enthusiastically agreed to facilitate the creation of this fanfare in celebration of the beginning of their new wind ensemble.
At that time, I was finishing up my first semester at TCU; I had just recently transferred there, and although it was my seventh semester of college, it felt like my first again. I was trying to stay afloat in a sea of new places and new faces, searching for any solid ground I could find, and trying to find myself again in the process. One of the first places I began to feel comfortable—I began to feel like me—was under Mr. Youngblood's baton in the TCU Symphonic Band. This was in no small part due to Mr. Youngblood himself. From early on, Mr. Youngblood was willing to indulge me in conversations about all sorts of musical topics, and he was glad to take a look at my musical efforts, even programming several of my works with the TCU Symphonic Band. His encouragement was hugely helpful as I moved through my earliest months at TCU.
This work, Fanfare for Wild Youthful Occasions, reflects all of the energy that came together in this particular circumstance. It contains within it the energy of new musical opportunity that groups like the FWYO provide for young musicians. It contains the energy of those young people all coming together like the particles of an atom to create something greater than the sum of its parts, and it contains the energy of the masterfully skilled people who come together to guide these young souls. It contains the energy of a kid in his early twenties who found a fraction of himself in a new place, and it contains the energy of you, the person who is reading this and somehow taking place in the experience of this music. Come be a part of this wild youthful occasion with us.
“Short” Program Notes by Adam Wallace
Fanfare for Wild Youthful Occasions was commissioned by Brian Youngblood for the inaugural season of the FWYO Wind Ensemble, the premier winds and percussion group of the Fort Worth Youth Orchestra. This piece was written by the composer to contain “the energy of those young people all coming together like the particles of an atom to create something greater than the sum of its parts.” (Collins)
Traditionally performed by brass and percussion for ceremonial purposes, fanfares are frequently recognizable from their emphasis on a single harmonic series (or clear pitch center) and their military-like lift. Beginning with an energetic woodwind section accompanied by percussion, Collins deviates from the traditional approach of fanfares through the piece’s “wild and energetic” tempo at ♩=160, the scrambling of stability through frequent time signature changes and dissonant/chromatic flourishes throughout, and the use of out-of-time rapid woodwind figures to accompany the brass. The ending of this fanfare brings the audience back into a clear direction, concluding with a “final shout” that celebrates the energy of everyone’s inner youth.
Please credit Adam Wallace when using the above “short” program notes.