D. Lee Jackson

Words and Music

At Last, Bruckner Symphony No. 6 is Finished!

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Bruckner Symphony No. 6 Movement 4 CoverIt took a very long time – from August 2023 to the present, in fact – but at long last, my arrangement for concert band / wind ensemble of Anton Bruckner’s Symphony No. 6 in A Major is finished. I’ve put it through the proofreading wringer several times, just to be on the safe side, and I’ve done the musical equivalent of dotting all of the Is and crossing all of the Ts. Everything is as tidy as I can possibly get it, so I’m calling it done.

For any of you who might be reading this with a possible interest toward performing it with an ensemble, but you’re not sure if you can commit to taking on a full four-movement Bruckner symphony, worry not. I have divided the movements into four separate score-and-parts sets. You can try just one, or you can go for the whole package. It’s your choice.

Naturally, I’ve put demo recordings of the individual movements online, this time on YouTube. I’ve also put up a Playlist with links to all four movements, in case you’d like to listen to the symphony in the traditional manner. Here are the links to the videos:

Movement One
Movement Two
Movement Three
Movement Four

Playlist Link (all four movements)

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you are interested, or if you just have feedback on the movements. I’m waiting eagerly to hear from you. Thank you!

Contact page – https://dleejackson.lbjackson.com/contact 

Keil and Carragan and Dorico – Oh My!

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Anton BrucknerMy fascination…some might call it an obsession…with the music of Anton Bruckner’s Symphony Number 6 in A Major has continued to this date, in the form of concert band / wind ensemble arrangements which I have completed for the first, second, and third movements of said symphony. I am now working on the fourth movement (the Finale), and it’s turning out to be more difficult than the middle two movements, and possibly more difficult than the first movement. In any event, I am around 90-100 measures short of finishing my first full symphony, and I’ve already arranged over 320 measures of the last movement to date. To quote Patrick Stewart, “Gods, what a monster!” This is a big symphony, albeit not when compared to some of Mahler’s gargantuan offerings.

One thing I’ve learned in the course of arranging this symphony is the 18th-century use of a dynamics mark called the “Keil,” which is pronounced like the name of the character “Kyle” on a certain animated TV show and marked like this: (staccatissimo ). While this looks like a staccatissimo mark, it is not one. It stands for a combination of an accent and a staccato articulation, according to a correspondence I had on February 5th, 2024 with Dr. William Carragan, the author of “Anton Bruckner: Eleven Symphonies” (a.k.a. “The Bruckner Red Book”). He wrote:

That mark, like a vertical black arrowhead, is very common in Bruckner. Its German name is “Keil”. It means a solid but not abrupt accent, more emphatic than the shorter staccato. It should not be overly lengthened as some inexperienced conductors do, nor should it be abruptly abbreviated. You should absolutely include the Keil in your arrangement, and then explain to people how it should be played, as a staccato with an extra nudge.

 Unfortunately, I must report to Dr. Carragan’s disappointment that the music writing software I use, Steinberg’s Dorico Pro 5.1.21 as of this writing, refuses to support a Keil mark properly. I cannot get it to work alongside the all-too-similar staccatissimo mark without serious performance and/or playback issues. Therefore, I had to make a choice: I chose to keep the staccatissimo mark on its own, and rewrote the Keil mark as a simple accent above a staccato mark. It works well enough so far. My apologies, Dr. Carragan.

In any event, I said I’d arranged the first three movements of Bruckner’s 6th Symphony, and here I would like to present SoundCloud links to them for your listening pleasure. Please let me know what you think by dropping me a line from the contact page once you’ve listened to any or all of them. Thank you for taking the time to listen!

Here’s the 1st Movement (the Majestoso)…

Now, the ethereal 2nd Movement (the Adagio)…

Finally, the playful 3rd Movement (the Scherzo / Trio)!

Bach to the Classics

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Johann Sebastian BachIf you’ll recall from my post from September 30th of this year about the arrangement of Anton Bruckner’s 6th Symphony, I’ve been busy arranging music for Concert Band / Wind Ensemble. I’ve continued this with a piece written by Johann Sebastian Bach in the early 18th century, “Prelude No. 7 in Eb Major” from “The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1.” This piece was brilliantly adapted for Robert Moog’s Moog Synthesizer by Wendy Carlos on 1968’s groundbreaking record release, “Switched-On Bach.” It was this record (an 8-track tape, actually) that caught my attention all those years ago.

I tried to arrange the Prelude for marching band back in the early 1980s, but was unable to pull it off. The manuscript sat in a drawer, neglected, for around 40 years or so while I studied and worked on other things. As I said in my Bruckner post, the acquisition of Dorico Pro has made many things possible for me, including taking another shot at the Prelude. This time, however, I would write my arrangement for Concert Band / Wind Ensemble.

The new version crossed the finish line around October 9th, 2023 or so. I’ve spent the time since putting together the physical stuff, like the printed score, a USB key with the PDF parts, and so on. I’m now at the point where I need to get it performed by a real-life ensemble. I’m beginning the process of contacting ensembles now, but I could certainly use some help. If you know of an ensemble that might like to perform the Prelude, drop me a line on the Contact page!

If you need any help in convincing someone, just point them to the SoundCloud page where the audio example of the Prelude can be found. Here it is:

Finally, on another note, thank you all for your support during the recent GRAMMY® campaign for “Lady Tygress’ Suite: 1. Intro.” I received several very positive comments about the song, which makes me think that I’ll probably get more than just my own vote for it this year. 😉

For Your GRAMMY® Consideration

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FYC_LadyTygressSuite_1:IntroThe official notice came via e-mail the other day: my work had qualified for first-round voting for the GRAMMY Awards®! Excitement filled me, followed by a brief feeling of panic: I’ve got work to do! I’ve got to start hitting the FYC (For Your Consideration) groups in an attempt to drum up votes for my work! I’ve got to network! I’ve got to send direct messages!

Oh, and while I’m at it, I might as well post some links on my website and publish the neat little FYC graphic I’ve cooked up, shouldn’t I? Well, let’s get started, then!

Fellow voting members of the Academy, please allow me to present For Your GRAMMY® Consideration my track, “Lady Tygress’ Suite: 1. Intro” in the Best Dance/Electronic Recording category. You can listen to the track as posted on SoundCloud in the player below:

You can also see a reduced-sized graphic of what I’ve been posting in the FYC groups here:

FYC Lady Tygress' Suite: 1. Intro (60 percent)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I appreciate you listening to my track! If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to post them in the comments below. Or, if you have received one of my mailings or PMs and wish to be removed from future communications, please let me know by posting in the comments. Thank you very much!